■"■"'-:      '  "      '  '  Sm  ^ 


a-^ 


rysra  w 


^ 


w, 


u 


>  ■■■-  <if 


*WH 


np 


'■■■.■■■"■        .       .        .         '■  ■ 


AROUND  THE  WORLD 


WITH 


General  Grant : 


A    Narrative   of   the  Visit  of  General  U.  S.  Grant,  Ex-President 

of  the  United  States,  to  various  Countries  in 

Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  in 

1877,    1878,    1879. 


TO    WHICH    ARE    ADDED 


Certain  Conversations  with  General  Grant  on  Questions 
connected  with  american  politics  and  history. 


JOHN  RUSSELL  YOUNG. 


WITH    EIGHT    HUNDRED     ILLUSTRATIONS. 


VOLUME   I 


NEW   YORK : 
SUBSCRIPTION    BOOK    DEPARTMENT. 

The  American  News  Company. 


Copyright. 

1879, 

By  The  American  News  Company. 


YORK  :    J.   J.   LITTLE  &  CO.,   PRINTERS, 
10  TO  30   ast^r    PLACE. 


TO    MRS.  JULIA   D.  GRANT. 

Madam  : 

Two  years  ago  to-day  we  embarked  at  Ville  Franche  for 
Italy,  Egypt,  the  Holy  Land,  Asia  Minor,  and  the  islands  of  the 
Mediterranean — a  journey  that  in  time  was  to  extend  around  the 
world.  In  closing  my  narrative  of  that  journey  I  recall  many 
events  which  will  live  with  the  history  of  our  time,  many  days 
of  pageantry  and  splendor,  many  scenes  of  beauty,  antiquity, 
and  renown.  I  am  conscious  that  my  printed  chronicle  will  ap- 
pear feeble  and  cold  to  one  who  saw  what  I  have  endeavored 
to  describe.  But  to  have  had  the  honor  of  telling  that  story, 
even  in  a  barren  fashion,  to  have  been  the  companion  of  yourself 
and  your  illustrious  husband,  I  regard  as  a  supreme  privilege. 
Now  that  my  work  is  done,  and  our  journey  around  the  world 
becomes  a  memory,  I  dwell  on  nothing  with  more  pleasure  than 
that  grace,  kindness,  and  courtesy,  that  consideration  for  all, 
which  was  ever  present  to  every  member  of  our  party,  and 
which  brightened  many  a  weary  hour  of  travel.  As  a  token 
of  my  grateful  remembrance  I  dedicate  to  you,  Madam,  this 
work,  and  ask  you  to  accept  it  as  a  tribute  of  my  friendship  and 
esteem. 

With  great  respect, 

Your  sincere  friend, 

John  Russell  Young. 

New  York,  December  13,  1879. 


PREFACE. 


p| HE  circumstances  under  which  this  work  has  been  compiled  are  so 
apparent  in  the  narrative,  that  it  is  hardly  worth  while  for  me  to 
write  a  preface.  But  one  or  two  facts  may  be  of  interest.  It  was 
not  with  any  purpose  of  writing  a  book  that  I  accompanied  General 
Grant  in  his  recent  travels.  That  suggestion  was  made  to  me  during  the  prog- 
ress of  our  journey. 

It  was  my  intention  to  have  completed  this  narrative  on  my  return  to  the 
United  States.  The  fact,  however,  that  various  publishing  concerns  in  this 
country — half  a  dozen,  I  should  think — began  at  once,  upon  learning  of  the 
intention  of  the  American  News  Company  to  print  this  book,  to  issue  rival 
editions,  based  upon  letters  and  dispatches  of  mine  printed  in  the  New  York 
Herald,  compelled  my  own  publishers  to  print  the  early  parts  of  the  first 
volume  before  my  return.  The  compilation  and  arrangement  of  seven  of  the 
chapters  in  the  first  volume  devolved,  under  the  circumstances,  upon  others, 
to  whom  I  desire  to  express  my  thanks.  I  refer  to  Chapters  XII.,  XIII., 
XIV.,  XVL,  XVII.,  XVIII.,  and  XXII.  The  substance  of  these  chapters 
was  embraced  in  the  correspondence  to  the  Herald — the  arrangement  of  the 
book  is  that  of  Mr.  C.  R.  Parsons.  With  this  slight  exception,  the  work,  as  it 
now  goes  to  the  reader,  is  entirely  my  own. 

I  have  embodied,  in  various  parts  of  this  work,  memoranda  of  certain  con- 
versations with  General  Grant  concerning  history  and  politics  ;  also,  in  some 
instances — where  it  could  be  done  without  offending — conversations  that  took 
place  between  General  Grant  and  some  of  the  famous  men  whom  he  came  to 
know.  Wherever  I  have  quoted  General  Grant,  as  expressing  an  opinion,  I 
have  asked  his  permission  to  do  so  ;  and,  in  fact,  he  has  in  most  instances 
obliged  me  by  revising  the  proof-sheets.  This  revision,  however,  applies  only 
to  those  portions  of  the  text  where  General  Grant  himself  is  quoted.  For  all 
the  rest  I  alone  am  responsible. 

I  am  also  under  many  obligations  to  my  old  friend  M.  C.  Hart,  for  having 
taken  care  of  the  proof-sheets  of  those  parts  of  the  work  that  appeared  before 
my  return  to  the  United  States.  To  James  Gordon  Bennett,  the  editor  and 
proprietor  of  the  New  York  Herald — under  whose  auspices  the  journey  was 
made — I  am  indebted  for  permission  to  use,  in  the  preparation  of  the  work,  the 
letters  I  wrote  for  the  Herald.  I  have  only  partially  taken  advantage  of  his 
kindness,  as  a  large  part  of  what  is  now  printed  appears  for  the  first  time. 

T.  R.  Y. 


CONTENTS. 


VOLUME    I. 


CHAPTER  I.  pace 

Philadelphia  to   London 3 

Philadelphia — Delaware  River — At  Sea — Liverpool — Manchester — Leicester. 

CHAPTER  II. 
London 19 

Cavendish    Square — Freedom    of    City — Guildhall — Reform    Club — Buckingham 
Palace — London  Press — American  Legation. 

CHAPTER  III. 
A  Run  to  the  Continent 45 

Brussels — Switzerland — Alsace — Lorraine — Mulhouse — Schlettstadt — Strasbourg. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
England  and  Scotland 79 

Abbotsford — Wick — Glasgow — Newcastle  —  Tyneside  —  Sunderland — Sheffield — 
Stratford — Birmingham — Brighton. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Paris 1  25 

Visits  to  the  Principal  Places  of  Interest — The  American  Colony — Jardin  Mabille. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Mediterranean — Vesuvius — Pompeii 165 

On  the  Vandalia — Naples — Vesuvius — Pompeii. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Mediterranean 197 

Palermo — Christmas  Dinner — Messina — Etna — Malta — Alexandria. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Egypt  and  the  Nile 230 

Alexandria — Cairo — The  Khedive — Bedouins — Life  on  the  Nile. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Nile 254 

Siout — Upper  Egypt — Abydos — Keneh — Assouan. 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Nile  (Continued) 279 

Luxor — Statues  of  Memnon — Thebes— Karnak — Assouan — Philae — Memphis. 

iii 


jv  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Holy  Land 321 

Jaffa — Ramleh — Jerusalem — The    Garden  of    Gethsemane — Nazareth — Damascus 
— Beyrout. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Constantinople  and  Athens 346 

Arrival  at  Stamboul — Mosques  of  Constantinople — Athens — The   Parthenon — The 
Acropolis. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Rome,  Florence,  Venice,  and  Milan 361 

The  Coliseum — The  Vatican — The  Art  Galleries — The  Duomo. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Holland 378 

The  Canals — The  Hague — Rotterdam — Amsterdam — Broek. 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Berlin 395 

Unter  den  Linden — Visit  to  the  Arsenal — Royal   Palace — Garden  of  Berlin — Visit 
to  Prince  Bismarck. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Denmark,  Norway,  and  Sweden 430 

Hamburg  —  Copenhagen  —  Gottenburg  —  Christiania  —  Stockholm —  Norwegian 
Scenery. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Russia 465 

Cronstadt — St.    Petersburg — The    Neva — The    Michailoff    Palace — Streets  of   St. 
Petersburg — Moscow — The  Kremlin. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Austria  and  France 495 

Vienna — Munich — Schaffhausen — Vichy — Augsburg — Lyons — The  Wine  Country 
—  Bordeaux. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Spain 516 

Biarritz — San    Sebastian — The    Pyrenees — Vittoria — Interview   with    the    King — 
Madrid — The  Escurial. 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Portugal — Lisbon 534 

Reception  in  Lisbon — Royal  Literature — Visit  to  Cintra — Montserrat. 

CHAPTER  XXL 
Spain 548 

Cordova — Mosque  of  Cordova — Seville — The  Alcazar — Andalusia — Cadiz. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
Ireland 576 

Dublin— Reception  in  Ireland— Londonderry — Belfast. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Red  Sea  and  India 585 

Suez — Aden — Life  on  the  "  Venetia  " — Arrival  at  Bombay— Our  Residence  at  Malabar 
Point — Departure  for  Allahabad. 


FULL-PAGE  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


VOLU  ME    I. 


ARTISl  . 

Frontispiece — Steel  plate — General  U.  S.  Grant.... 
Presentation  of  the  Freedom  of  the  City  of  I. on. Inn. 

Reception  at  Windsor  by. the  Queen (,'.    White. 

Broomielaw  Bridge — Glasgow G.  Perkins. 

Brighton — England /•"./>'.  Schell. 

Naples F.  B.  Schell. 

( In  the  "  Var.dalia  ' Photograph. 

Pyramids  of  Egypt 

The  Halt 

On  the  Road  to  Memphis J.  I!.  Hyde. 

Nazareth Harry  Fenn. 

Palermo F.  B.  Schell. 

Rome G.  Perkin  i . 

On  the  Rhine F.  B.  Schell. 

General  Grant  and  Party  in  Egypt G.   While. 

Venice F.  B.  Schell. 

Outside  the  Bull  Ring 

Sc\  itle F.  B.  Schell. 

Gibraltar. .    G.  Perkins. 

The  Bull  Fight Schell  6r  Hogan. 

Killarney F.  B.  Schell. 


I  MGRAl  r- '  - 

Wm.  E.  Ma 
J.  Karst. 
J.  Karst. 
Meeder  cV  Chubb. 

George  F.  Smith. 
J.   W.  Lauderbach. 
C.  Speigle. 
7.  Metcalfe. 
J.  Metcalfe. 
J.  Pea. 
Lintai. 

y.    II'.  Lauderbach. 
J.  Filmcr. 
J.    IT.  Lauderba,  k. 
J.  Langridge. 
F.  Bookhout. 
J.  Pea. 
X.  Orr. 

J.   IV.  Lauderbach. 
J.  k'arst. 
X.  Orr. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


VOLU  M  E    I. 


i  \. .1 . 

3- 
3- 
5- 

7- 
S. 

9- 

io. 
n. 

12. 

r3- 
15- 
1 6. 

17- 
19. 
19. 

20. 
22. 
23- 

25- 

27. 
29. 

31- 

33- 
35- 
36. 
37- 
38. 

41. 

43- 

45- 
45- 
46. 

49- 
50. 

52. 


VRTIST.  ENGRAVER. 

Departure  from  Philadelphia F.  B.  Schell.  J.   II ".  Lauderbach. 

Initial  Letter 

Reception  at  the  House  of  G.  W.  Chillis. ...      "  R.  Schelling. 

Embarkation  in  Delaware  Bay "  J.   W.  Lauderbach. 

At  Sea G.   White.  E.  Clement. 

Arrival  at  Queenstown G.  Perkins.  J.   W.  Lauderbach. 

Relief  Ship  "  George  Griswold  " "  J.  Filiner. 

Arrival  at  Liverpool G.   White.  y.  Karst. 

Port  of  Liverpool G.  Perkins.  y.   T.  Speer. 

Brown  Library  and  Art  Gallery,  Liverpool...  S.  L.  Banckcr. 

Lime  Street,  Liverpool I.  R.    Waud.  y.  Metcalfe. 

St.  Nicholas  Church  and  Signal  Tower,  Liv- 
erpool    y.  H.  Richardson. 

Town  Hall,  Manchester 

London G.  Perkins.  W.    Wursbach. 

Initial  Letter 

Oaks  at  Epsom J.  Metcalfe. 

Casket — Freedom  of  London y.  H.  Richardson. 

Meeting  the  Prince  of  Wales G.   White.  y.  T.   Wagner. 

The  Avenue,  Southampton F.  B.  Schell.  E.  Heinemann. 

Netley  Abbey "  "  R.  Schelling. 

Crystal  Palace 1.  P.    Waud.  S.  B.  Casey. 

Windsor  Castle G.  Perkins.  Andrew  6f  Son. 

Trafalgar  Square G.  C.  Bell.  y.   T.  Sullivan. 

Banquet  at  Liverpool S.  B.  Casey. 

Westminster  Abbey G.  Gibson.  y.  H.  Richardson. 

Buckingham  Palace "         "  7-  Filiner. 

Reception  at  the  American  Legation W.  I .  Shepard.  y.  Karst. 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral C.  E.  H.  Bonwell.      H.  M.  Snyder. 

Houses  of  Parliament G.  Perkins.  y.   W.  Lauderbach. 

Ostend " 

Initial  Letter 

Street  Scene  in  Ghent "  "  E.  A.  Bobbett. 

Hotel  de  Ville,  City  Square,  Brussels F.  Ray.  H.  M.  Snyder. 

Meeting  with  King  Leopold B.  Day.  R.  Stewart. 

Cologne F.  B.  Schell.  y.  P.  Davis. 

vi 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Vll 


54- 
57- 
58. 
61. 
62. 
64. 
66. 
68. 
69. 
71- 
72. 
74- 
76. 

77- 

79- 

79- 

So. 

82. 

83. 

84. 

87. 

89. 

91. 

93- 

95. 

96. 

99. 
100. 
103. 
105. 
107. 
in. 
113. 

lis- 
ti- 
121. 
123. 
125. 
125. 
126. 
12S. 
130. 
131. 
132. 
133- 
134- 
135. 
136. 
137- 
13S. 
140. 


AR  r  1 

On  the  Rhine .S'.  Coleman. 

Frankfurt  on  the  Main /'.  Moran. 

Map,  Belgium  to  Italy J.  S.  Kemp. 

Si  1  iu'  in  the  Black  Forest W.  It.  Gibson. 

Mount  Blanc F.  Ii.  Schell. 

Laying  Corner  Stone  of  Church,  Geneva I.  R.    Waud. 

Scene  in  Alsace J.  Bolles. 

Street  in  Strasbourg 

Stork's  Nest — Strasbourg 

Scene  in  the  Alps If.  Finn. 

"  You  Must  Speak  German  " W.  L.  Shepard. 

Lake  Maggiore — Northern  Italy F.  B.  Schell. 

French  and  German  Soldiers J.  Bolles. 

Scene  in  Ragatz 

Glasgow G.  Perkins. 

Initial  Letter 

Map — England  and  Scotland J.  S.  Kemp. 

Scott's  Monument 

Edinburgh G.  Perkins. 

Cowgate,  Edinburgh " 

Edinburgh  Castle F.  B.  Schell. 

Abbotsford W.  II.  Gibson. 

Burns'  Cottage G.  Gibson. 

Dunrobin  Castle II.    W.  Herriek. 

Stephenson's  Monument C.  Mente, 

Inverary  Castle W.  II.  Gibson. 

Newcastle G.  Perkins. 

Address  at  Newcastle J.  H.  Hyde. 

Grey  Street  and  Grey's  Monument,  Newcastle.  C.  Mente. 

Tynemouth G.  Perkins. 

General  Grant's  English  Presents 

City  of  Birmingham G.  Perkins 

Leaving  Sheffield G.   While. 

Stratford-on-Avon T.  Moran. 

Anne  Hathaway's  Cottage G.  Gibson. 

Shakespeare's  Home IV.  II.  Gibson. 

Town  Hall,  Birmingham T.  Beach. 

Warwick  Castle T.  Moran. 

Paris G.  Perkins. 

Initial  Letter 

Folkestone J.  0.  Davidson. 

Boulogne " 

Champs  Elysees 

The  Invalides 

Place  de  la  Concorde A.  P.   Waud. 

Arc  de  Triomphe 

Porte  St.  Martin 

Church  of  St.  Genevieve 

Trinite 

Bois  de  Boulogne /.  R.   Waud. 

Rue  de  Rivoli,  St.  Jaques C.  Ii.  II.  Bonwell. 

Pavilion  of  the  Opera " 


1 
f  luibb. 

R.  Schelling. 

E.  lleinemann. 
J.  It.  Brightly. 
J.  Karst. 
J.  H.  Richat 


J.  Karst. 
J.   //'.  Lau 
J.  Rea. 
K.  Clement. 
E.  Heinemann. 

Fisk  iS~  See. 
J.  Filmer. 
Andrew  cV  Son. 
J.   Ii:  Lauderbach. 

J.  Filmer. 

y.  It.  Richardson. 

A'.  M.  Smart. 
Jl'.  McCracken. 
E.  Bookhout. 

E.  Sears. 
y.  Metcal/e. 
II'.  McCracken. 
y.  H.  Richat 
II.  M.  Snyder, 
y.  It.  Richai 
P.  Stewart. 
K.  M.  Smart. 
y.  P.  Davis, 
y.    Welch. 
W.  McCracken. 
J.  ft.  Richai 

y.  Langtidge. 

y.    W.  lauderbach. 
S.  B.  Ca 

y  It.  Itecv. 
II.  D.  In.  1, 
y.  It.  Richardson. 

y.  Karst. 
Meeder&  Chub': 
E.  lleinemann. 
y.  It.  Richardson. 


\  111 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PACE. 

1-41- 
143- 

144. 
146. 

147. 
148. 
150. 
151. 
152. 
154- 
157- 
15S. 
159. 
161. 
162. 
165. 
165. 
167. 
169. 
170. 
173- 
174- 
177- 
180. 
183. 
185. 
187. 
191. 
194. 
197. 
197. 
199. 
201. 
203. 
204. 
207. 
209. 
211. 
213. 

215- 

217. 
219. 
221. 
223. 
227. 
230. 
230. 
232. 
234. 
235- 
237- 
238. 


ARTIST. 

General  Granl  at  the  Herald  Office J.  II  Hyde. 

Porl  An  Change G.  Perkins. 

Notre  Dame 

Palace  of  the  Tribunal  de  Commerce 

I  in-  I  ,ouvre 

American-,  al  the  Grand  Hotel "".  /..  Shepard. 

New  Opera  I  louse 

Pont  Neuf A.  R.    II  'mid. 

Au  Bon  Marche IV.  L.  Shepard. 

St.  Eustache 

Luxembourg  Palace G.  Gibson. 

Pont  des  Arts G.  Perkins. 

The  Bric-a-Brac  Dealer II'.  L.  Shepard. 

The  Disgusted  American 

Villef ranche G.  Perkins. 

Vesuvius  and  the  Bay  of  Naples 

Initial  Letter 

Drive  to  Vesuvius IV.  L.  Shepard. 

Lazzaroni  of  Naples y.  Bolles. 

On  the  Shore— Naples F.  B.  Schell. 

Neapolitan  Boy 

Sorrento G.  Perkins. 

Street  in  Naples  (Porta  Capuana) ('.  Mente. 

Dinner  at  the  Hermitage IV.  L.  Shepard. 

Neapolitan  Fisher  Girl 

Street  of  Tombs F.  B.  Schell. 

The  Forum C.  Mente. 

Street  in  Pompeii 

Excavating  a  House 

The  Mediterranean G.  Perkins. 

Initial  Letter 

"General  Grant  and  Capt.  Robeson  in  Palermo. B.  Day. 

Christmas  Dinner  on  the  "  Vandalia  " IV.  I.  Shepard. 

Mrs.  Grant 

Cathedral  of  Palermo F.  Ray. 

The  Madonna,  Palermo F.  B.  Schell. 

Island  of  Stromboli P-  Dixon. 

Messina 7-  R-  -A  ey. 

Etna 

Malta   y.  O.  Davidson. 

Street  in  Malta C.  Mente. 

Meeting  with  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh IV.  L.  Shepard. 

Island  of  Capri F.  B.  Schell. 

Sickness  of  the  Marquis W.  L.  Shepard. 

Street  of  Mohammed  AH,  Alexandria 

Initial  Letter 

Cairo G.  Perkins. 

Gateway,  Cairo F.  Ray. 

In  Cairo B.  Day. 

Street  in  Cairo F.  Ray. 

The  Khedive's  Carriage  Runner , 

Egyptian  Lady 


E.  Clement. 
Andrew  &?  Son. 
II.  M.  Snyder, 
y.  II  Richardson 
Meeder  &  Chubb. 
y.  Karst. 
Meeder  &  Chubb. 
7.    IV.  Lauderbach. 
Dahiel  &=  Markly. 
II.  M.   Snyder. 
II.  D.    Turner. 
Andrew  Cif  Son. 
Dahiel  6V  Markly. 
y.  A'arst. 
S.  S.  Kilburn. 
A.  Measom. 

II.  M.  Snyder. 

/•.'.  Clement. 

K.  Heinemann. 

y.  Rea. 

y.   IV.  Lauderbach. 

E.  Clement. 

X.  On: 

R.  Stewart. 

y.  M.   Vanness. 

R.  H.  Carson. 

R.  M.    Smart. 

y  II.  Brightly. 

y.  Filmer. 

y.  Rea. 


y.    IV.  Lauderbach. 
A.  Measom. 
y.  II.  Richardson. 
Andrew  &  Son. 


H.  D.    Turner. 
R.  Stewart. 
IV.  McCracken. 
H.  M.  Snyder. 
G.  M  Toy. 

H.  D.   Turner. 

H.  M.   Snyder. 
D.  C.  Hitchcock, 
y.  Karst. 

King. 

y.  Filmer. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


IX 


PACE.  ARTIST. 

240.  ' '  Have  a  Donkey  ?  " 

241.  Street  in  Cairo 

243.  Bedouins  over  Sugarcane  Fire J.  JI.  Hyde. 

245.  Visit  to  the  Khedive J.  Limber. 

24S.  Street  in  Cairo F.  Ray. 

249.  Morning 

252.  Jesse  Grant 

254.  Initial  Letter 

254.  Siout C.  Mente. 

256.  Entering  Siout H.  P.  Share. 

258.  Drive  in  Siout 

261.  Map  of  Egypt  and  the  Holy  Land J.  S.  Kemp. 

263.  Egyptian  Boy 

264.  An  Egyptian 

266.  The  Guard  over  General  Grant 7  IT.  Hyde. 

268.  Dahabeeah J.  0.  Davidson. 

270.  Evening 

273.  Moonlight  on  the  Nile 

275.  Home  in  Keneh J.  II.  Hyde. 

277.  Egyptian  Maiden 

279.  The  Nile T.  Mora,,. 

279.  Initial  Letter 

250.  Irrigating  Machine 

282.  Luxor C.  Monto. 

2S4.  Palm  Grove.    

286.  Statues  of  Memnon 

259.  By  the  Wayside 

291.  Thebes G.  Perkins. 

293.  Karnak G.  C.  Bell. 

2ij5.  Moonlight  on  the  Nile 

299.  Egyptian  Well II'.  I/.  Gibson. 

302.  On  the  Nile 

304.  Assouan C.  Mente. 

306.  Buying  Ostrich  Feathers J.  Bollcs. 

303.  On  Deck W.  L.  Shepard. 

311.  In  the  Reeds 

313.  Philae G.  Perkins. 

317.  The  Serapeum C.  Mente. 

31S.  Drive  with  the  Khedive 

321.  Initial  Letter 

321.  Jaffa G.  Perkins. 

322.  Fishermen  of  Jaffa 

324.  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher P.  Pay. 

326.  Farming  in  the  Holy  Land 

327.  Street  in  Jerusalem F.  Pay. 

329.  Wailing-Place  of  the  Jews 

332.  Blind  Beggar.     Via  Dolorosa 

334.  Bethlehem G.  Peri-ins. 

336.  Woman  of  Bethlehem 

338.  Mount  Qurantania 

339.  Near  Nazareth 

342.  Site  of  Capernaum   


P.  II.  Sea. 

J.  II  Richardson. 

K.  Schclling. 

S.  B.  < 

//.  M  Snyder. 

J.  Rea. 

K.  Heinemann. 
J.  Metcalfe. 

J.  H.  Kiel,.: 
Risk  o.-'  See. 
J.  Rea. 

P.  M.    Smart. 
J.  Filmer. 
S.  B.  Casey. 
j.  II.  Richardson. 

P.  M  Smart. 

J.   Pea. 


N.  On: 

A.  T.  C-uzner. 

7.  Karst. 

£.  Bookhout. 
R.  Stewart. 
S.  L.  Bane ket. 
Bogart. 

X.  Orr. 

E.  Clement. 

D.  Xiehols. 

R.  Stewart. 

X.  Orr. 

7-   W.  Lauderbach. 

S.  B.  ( .  ■ 


J- 


1 1'.  Lauderbach. 


J.  Hoe): 

T.  P.  Rea. 

7.  Metcalfe. 

Dahiel  cV  Mar&iy. 

7.    Welch. 

X.   Orr. 

S.  B.  Casey. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PACl  .  ARTIST. 

34  1.  Lake  of  Galilee 

346.  Initial  Lecter 

346.  Constantinople C.  Mente. 

347.  Arrival  at  Stamboul B.  Day. 

348.  Map  of  Turkey  and  Italy J.  S.  Kemp. 

34^).  Mosques  of  St.  Sophia  and  Sultan  Achmid  . .  C.  Mente. 

351.  Street  in  Constantinople 

352.  Turkish   Bazaar /derrick. 

353.  Street  in  Stamboul 

354.  The  Harem 

355.  Turkish  Lady 

356.  The  Dardanelles 

35S.  Athens C.  Mente. 

359.  Illumination  of  the  Acropolis 

361.  Initial   Letter 

361.  Rome F.  B.  Schcll. 

363.  The  Coliseum.    " 

364.  Interior  of  St.  Peter's 

365.  Roman  Boy 

367.  Florence A.  C.    Warren. 

3<iS.  Giotto's  Tower S.  Coleman. 

370.  Pisa C.  Mente. 

372.  Grand  Canal,  Venice J.  0.  Davidson. 

374.  Greek  Church  and  Canal,  Venice F.  B.  Schcll. 

376.  Milan C.  Mente. 

378.  Initial  Letter 

375.  Amsterdam C.  Mente. 

3S0.  On  the  Canal,  Holland C.  Kendrick. 

3S2.  Lake  at  the  Hague W.  H.  Gibson. 

384.  Monument  of  Independence A.  C.   Warren. 

386.  Scheveningen G.  Perkins. 

3S9.  Rotterdam F.  B.  Schcll. 

391.  Canal,  Amsterdam G.  Perkins. 

393.  Street,   Hanover C.  Mente. 

395.  Initial  Letter 

395.  Berlin. C.  Mente. 

397.  Unter  den  Linden F.  B.  Schcll. 

399.  Potsdam "  " 

401.  The  Old  Mill  of  Sans  Souci C.  Mente. 

403.  Zoological  Garden. .    

405.  In  the  Park 

407.  Garden  of  Sans  Souci F.  B.  Schcll. 

409.  Palace  of  Frederick  William 

411.  Meeting  with  Bismarck B.  Day. 

415.  The  Royal  Opera  House C.  Mente. 

417.  The  Gendenarmenmarket "       " 

421.  Royal    Palace    

423.  Brandenburger  Gate C.  Mente. 

427.  William's  Platz A.  C.   Jl'arren. 

430.  Christia'nia C.  Mente. 

430.  Initial  Letter 

433.  Hamburg C.  Mente. 


ENGRAVER. 


Mecder  £-'  Chubb. 
7".  L.  Smart. 
Fisk  &  See. 
R.  M.  Smart. 
O.  Mulct. 

J.    W.  Lauderbaeh. 
II.  M.  Snyder. 
J.  Langridge. 
J.   T.  Nichols. 
J.  H.  Brightly. 
J.  M.    Vanncss. 
S.  B.  Casey. 

J.    IT.  Lauderbaeh. 

II.  M.  Snyder. 
J.  T.  Nichols. 

II.  M.   Snyder. 

W.  McCrackcn. 

J.  Filmer. 

T.  D.   Snyder. 

y.  Foster. 

N.  On: 

y.  Karst. 

y.   W.  Lauderbaeh. 

H.  M.  Snyder. 
y.  Filmer. 
A.  Mcasom. 
R.  Stewart. 
y.  M.   Vanness. 

y.  Rea. 

R.  M.  Smart. 

y.  Foster. 

T.  D.  Sugden. 

y.  Rea. 

G.  M.  Foy. 

R.  M.   Smart. 

y.  IF  Brightly. 

y  Rea. 

y.  II.  Brightly. 

0.  Mulct. 

y.  Filmer. 

H.  M.  Snyder. 

y.  Metcalfe. 

If.  McCrackcn. 

S.  B.  Casey. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


XI 


page,  mvi-ist. 

435.  Church  of  St.  James,  Hamburg 

437.  Canal  and  Museum,  Copenhagen F.  B.  St  hell. 

437.  The  Exchange 

439.  Rosenborg  Castle,  Copenhagen 

442.  The  Norwegian  Mountains //".//.  Gibson. 

445.  Deer  Garden,  Stockholm F.  B.  Schell. 

448.  Royal  Palace,  Christiania C.  Mente. 

450.  The  Karjoler J.  Louber, 

45;,.  Peasant  Girl 7.   Wilson. 

456.  Norwegian  Fjord F.  B.  Schell. 

459.  Stockholm C.  Mente. 

460.  Oscar  Hall "        " 

463.  Royal  Palace,  Stockholm "       " 

465.  Initial  Letter 

465.  St.  Petersburg C.  Mente. 

467.  St.  Isaac's  Square  and  Senate  House " 

469.  Winter  Palace A.  C.   Warren. 

471.  The  Alexander  Column 

473.  A  Drosky 

475.  Nevskoi  Prospekt 

477.  Our  Lady  of  Kazan 

479.  The  English  Quay C.  Mente. 

481.  Moscow " 

483.  The  Kremlin   " 

4S5.  Church  of  the  Saviour 

457.  Cathedral  of  the  Assumption 

48S.  Tower  of  John  the  Great 

490.  Ivan  Veliki 

491.  Column  of   Sigismund  III 

493.  Garden  of  Lazienki,  Warsaw C  Mente. 

495.  Initial  Letter 

495.  Vienna 

497.  The  Village  Cross,  Poland 

499.  King-Strasse  (Boulevard) 

501.  The  Opera  House,  Vienna 

503.  Town  Park,  Vienna 

505.  Street  in  Augsburg 

507.  Schaffhausen C.  E.  H.  Bon-well. 

509.  Lyons C.  Mente. 

511.  The  Vintage. F.  B.  Schell. 

513.  In  the  Wine  Country 

514.  Bordeaux C.  Mente. 

516.  The  Escurial  Palace   

516.  Initial  Letter ,.... 

519.  Biarritz C.  Mente. 

520.  San  Sebastian Schell  eV  Hogan. 

523.  The  Pyrenees W.  II.  Gibson. 

525.  In  Vittoria Schell  &  Hogan. 

527.  Basque  Farmers "       "  " 

528.  Spanish  Girl "       "  " 

531.  Palace  at  Madrid C.  Mente. 

534.  Lisbon "        " 


ENGR  Wi  1.:. 

//.  M.  Snyder. 
X.  Orr. 


N.  Orr. 

7.   W.  Lauderbach. 

J.  II.  Brightly. 
G.  A.  Bogert. 

F.  Heinemann. 

7.  M.   Vanness. 
A.  Measom. 
J.  Metcalfe. 

J.  Metcalfe. 
T.  D.  Sugden. 
7.  Foster. 

J.  Minton. 

II.  D.   Turner. 

R.  Stewart. 

E.  Heinemann. 
0.  Mulct. 
C.  Edmonds. 

J.  Minion. 
II.  M.  Snyder. 

G.  M.  Foy. 

J.   W.  Lauderbach 

C.    Weber. 

II.  M.  Snyder. 
7.   Welch. 
S.  B.  Casey. 
J.    Wilson. 
J.  M.   Vanness. 

7.   W.  Lauderbach. 

E.  Heinemann. 
R.  II.  Rea. 
S.  B.  1. 

7.  Foster. 

J.  II.  B lightly. 

•J.    W.  lauderbach. 

G.  A.  Smith. 

J.  Kant. 

R.  M.  Smart. 

J.  Iloey. 

L.  C.  Faber. 


Xll 


ILLUSTRATIONS, 


PAGE.  ARTIST. 

534.  Initial  Letter 

536.  Fish  Girl  of  Lisbon Schell  cV  Hogan. 

538.  Street  Scene,  Lisbon 

540.  Scene  in  Portugal S'.  Coleman. 

542.  Palace  at  Cintra F.  B.  Schell. 

545.  Tower  of  Belem,  Lisbon 

546.  Chateau  of  Monserrat C.  Mente. 

54S.  Cordova "       " 

548.  Initial  Letter 

550.  Mosque,  Cordova 

552.  Place  San  Francisco,  Cordova Schell  cV  Hogan. 

554.  A  Spanish  Tavern    

557.  Gateway,  Seville Schcll  &*  Hogan. 

559.  The  Alcazar,  Seville F.  B.  Schcll. 

561.  Spanish  Muleteer 

562.  Guadalquiver  F.  B.  Schell. 

564.  Cadiz " 

566.  A  Spanish  Window Schcll  &*  Hogan. 

571.  Plaza  de  Isabella  II.,  Cadiz ' 

573.  Scene  in  Spain S.  Coleman. 

576.  Londonderry Schell  eV  Hogan. 

576.  Initial  Letter 

57S.  Dublin 

582.  Belfast Schell  &  Hogan. 

585.  Marseilles 

585.  Initial  Letter 

587.  Suez Schcll  &>  Hogan. 

591.  Deck  of  "  Venetia" II.  P.  Share. 

593.  Red  Sea F.  B.  Schcll. 

595.  Aden 

598.  Heaving  the  Log 

601.  Bombay C.  Mente. 

603.  Landing  Place,  Bombay Schcll  &=  Hogan. 

606.  Government  House,  Bombay 

609.  Street  in  Bombay 

612.  On  the  Veranda  at  Malabar  Point H.  P.  Share. 

615.  Tower  of  Silence,  "    Bombay. . .  . 

617.  Elephanta  Caves 

621.  Poona,  near  Bombay 

624.  Native  Village   

625.  On  the  Neirhedda  River F.  B.  Schell. 

628.  Map  of  Southern  Asia J.  S.  Kemp. 

630.  "  Kassim,"  my  Hindoo  Servant 


ENGRAVKR. 

S.  B.  Casey. 
O.  Mulct. 

E.  Heinemann. 

II.  M.  Snyder. 
S.  B.  Casey. 

F.  W.  Swan. 

II.  M.  Snyder. 
R.  M.  Smart. 
C.  Edmonds. 
J.  M.    Vanness. 
W.  McCrackcn. 
N.  Orr. 
J.    IV.  laudcrbach. 

F.  Levin. 

R.  M.  Smart. 
X.  Orr. 

J.  II.  Brightly. 

y.  H.  Brightly. 

G.  F.  Smith, 
y.  Robinson. 

R.  M.  Smart. 
G.  F.  Smith. 
A.  Measom. 
N.  Orr. 
A.  Hayman. 

W.    Wurzbach. 
y.  M.    Vanness. 
G.  Otto, 
y.  Hoey. 
E.  Heinemann. 
H.  M.  Snyder, 
y.  Rea. 
y.  Foster. 

W.  Mollier. 

Fisk  &  See. 
0.  Mulet. 


AROUND  THE  WORLD 
WITH    GENERAL    GRANT 


lEPAKTURE    FROM    PHILADELPHIA. 


CHAPTER     I. 


rilll.ADI-'.l.riHA    TO    LONDON. 


N   the  month  of  May,   i  S 7 7,  the   Department  of  State 
issued   to   its   representatives   in   foreign   countries  the 
following  official  note  : 

"Department  of  State,  / 

Washington,  May  23d,  C877.  j 

"  To  the  Diplomatic  and  Consular  Officers  of  the  United  Stall's. 

"Gentlemen:  General  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  the  late  President  of  the 

United  States,  sailed  from  Philadelphia  on  the  17th  inst.,  for  Liverpool. 

"The  route  and  extent  of  his  travels,  as  well  as  the  duration  of  his  sojourn 
abroad,  were  alike  undetermined  at  the  time  of  his  departure,  the  object  of  his 
journey  being  to  secure  a  few  months  of  rest  and  rei  reation  after  sixteen  years 
of  unremitting  and  devoted  labor  in  the  military  and  civil  service  of  his 
country. 

"The  enthusiastic  manifestations  of  popular  regard  and  esteem  for  General 
Grant  shown  by  the  people  in  all  parts  of  the  country  that  he  has  visited  sin*  e 
his  retirement   from  official  life,  and   attending  his  every  appearance  in  public 


PHILADELPHIA    TO  LONDON. 

from  the  day  of  that  retirement  up  to  the  moment  of  his  departure  for  Europe, 
indicate  beyond  question  the  high  place  he  holds  in  the  grateful  affections  of 
his  countrymen. 

"  Sharing  in  the  largest  measure  this  general  public  sentiment,  and  at  the 
same  time  expressing  the  wishes  of  the  President,  I  desire  to  invite  the  aid  of 
the  Diplomatic  and  Consular  Officers  of  the  Government  to  make  his  journey  a 
pleasant  one  should  he  visit  their  posts.  I  feel  already  assured  that  you  will  find 
patriotic  pleasure  in  anticipating  the  wishes  of  the  Department  by  showing  him 
that  attention  and  consideration  which  is  due  from  every  officer  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  a  citizen  of  the  Republic  so  signally  distinguished  both  in  official  ser- 
vice and  personal  renown. 

"  I  am,  Gentlemen, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  WM.  M.  EVARTS." 

This  action  on  the  part  of  the  Government  was  a  fitting 
manifestation  of  its  esteem  and  regard  for  one  among  the  most 
illustrious  of  its  citizens.  These  sentiments  had  been  still  fur- 
ther emphasized  by  the  people  of  one  of  our  chief  cities,  this 
homagre  serving  to  introduce  General  Grant  to  the  nations  of 
the  Old  World.  General  Grant  had  been  from  the  hour  of  his 
retirement  on  March  4th,  1877,  the  recipient  of  more  flattering  . 
testimonials  of  respect  and  admiration  than  had  perhaps  ever  00  2 
before  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  American.  The  successful  con- 
ducting and  victorious  termination  of  the  late  war  between  the 
opposing  sections  of  the  country;  the  judicious  direction  of  the 
Executive  branch  of  the  Government  for  eight  years  ;  the  re-es- 
tablishment of  peace  and  harmony  with  a  great  foreign  power, 
when  these  relations  had  been  seriously  threatened;  these  acts 
had  secured  for  General  Grant  a  hold  upon  the  heart  of  the 
nation  which  could  hardly  be  too  strongly  manifested. 

Having,  as  President  of  the  United  States,  extended  to  the 
representatives  of  foreign  states  the  welcome  of  America  to  its 
Centennial  Anniversary  Celebration,  General  Grant  was  now, 
in  the  capacity  of  a  private  citizen,  about  to  visit  those  countries 
to  obtain  needed  rest,  and  to  inform  himself  concerning  the 
characteristics  and  customs  of  the  people  of  the  Old  World.  It 
will  be  generally  conceded  that  no  more  appropriate  occasion 
could  occur  for  a  special  recognition  of  great  public  services. 

General   Grant  selected  as  a  medium  for  the  transportation 


£Z 


PHILADELPHIA. 


of  his  party  to  Liverpool  the  "  Indiana,"  one  of  the  only  Ameri- 
can line  of  steamships  crossing  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

Having  thus  chosen  this  particular  steamship  line,  it  was 
natural  that  the  Philatlelphians  should  take  pride  and  pleasure 
in  extending  their  hospitality  to  General  Grant;  and  accord- 
ingly, from  the  hour  of  his  arrival  in  Philadelphia,  its  citizens 
vied  with  each  other  in  doing  him  honor. 

During-  the  week  which  elapsed  before  his  departure,  the 
General  was  the  guest  of  George  \Y.  Childs,  Esq. 


RECEPTION    AT   THE    l{n!  sF   OF  C.   W.   CHILDS. 


On  May  ioth,  the  day  following  his  arrival  in  Philadelphia, 
General  Grant  visited  the  "  Permanent  Exhibition"  Building,  on 
the  occasion  of  its  opening.  The  nth,  12th.  and  13th  were 
passed  in  the  enjoyment  of  tin-  hospitalities  of  prominent  Phila- 
tlelphians, and  on  the  14th  a  reception  took  place  at  the  Union 
League  Club,  the  reception  closing  with  a  review  of  die  First 
Regiment  Infantry  of  the  National  Guard  of  Pennsylvania. 
On   the    1 6th    a   very   pretty  ceremony    took   place,    when    the 


5  PHILADELPHIA    TO    LONDON. 

soldiers'  orphans — wards  of  the  State — marched  in  procession 
past  Mr.  Chihls'  residence.  Generals  Grant  and  Sherman 
stood  on  the  steps  of  the  house,  extending  to  each  little 
one.  as  they  passed,  a  pleasant  word.  On  the  same  day 
Genera]  Grant  received  the  veteran  soldiers  and  sailors,  to  the 
number  of  twelve  hundred,  in  Independence  Hall,  after  which  he 
lunched  with  Governor  Hartranft  at  Mr.  Childs',  where  in  the 
evening  he  was  serenaded,  the  house  being  brilliantly  illuminated. 

On  the  1 7th,  the  day  appointed  for  the  departure  of  the 
"  Indiana,"  Mr.  Childs  entertained  at  breakfast,  to  meet  his  dis- 
tinguished guest,  the  late  Secretary  of  State,  Hon.  Hamilton 
Fish,  Governor  Hartranft,  General  Sherman,  and  Hon.  Simon 
Cameron.  After  the  breakfast  the  party  proceeded  on  board  a 
small  steamer  and  visited  the  Russian  corvette  "Cravasser." 
After  a  brief  stay  the  steamer  proceeded  down  the  river.  The 
party  on  board  now  included  Mayor  Stokley,  Henry  C.  Carey, 
Esq.,  General  Stewart  Van  Vleet,  Colonel  Fred.  I).  Grant,  Major 
Alexander  Thorpe,  Hon.  Isaac  H.  Bailey,  of  New  York,  U.  S. 
Grant,  jr.,  General  Horace  Porter,  the  members  of  the  City  Coun- 
cil of  Philadelphia,  and  others.  Mrs.  Grant  and  a  party  of 
friends  were  taken  down  the  river  to  the  "Indiana"  by  the 
United  States  revenue  cutter  "Hamilton,"  on  board  of  which  were 
Admiral  Turner,  George  W.  Childs,  Esq.,  and  Mrs.  Childs,  Hon. 
A.  E.  Borie,  and  Mrs.  Borie,  A.  J.  Drexel,  Esq.,  and  Mrs.  Drexel, 
Mrs.  Sharp — Mrs.  Grant's  sister — Hon.  Morton  McMichael,  A. 
Bierstadt,  the  artist,  Hon.  John  W.  Forney,  and  others. 

The  wharves  on  the  Delaware  were  lined  with  people,  who 
made  the  air  resound  with  their  cheers.  Steamers  and  small 
craft  filled  the  stream,  all  decorated  with  bunting  and  crowded 
with  enthusiastic  people. 

A  brief  stoppage  was  made  at  Girard  Point,  and  the  follow- 
ing telegraphic  dispatches  were  received  by  General  Grant: 

"New  York,  May  17th,  1S77. 
"General  Grant,  Philadelphia: 

"  Mrs.  Haves  joins  me  in  heartiest  wishes  that  you  and  Mrs.  ( irant  may  have 
a  prosperous  voyage,  and,  after  a  happy  visit  abroad,  a  safe  return  to  your 
friends  and  country.  R-  B.  HAVES." 


DELAWARE   Kli  i  l< 

i 

To  this  General  Grant  replied: 

"  S  ||    \mi  i;   '  Mali  XI   \.' 

"Delaware   River,  May  17th,  11  o'clock  a.m. 

"  President  Hayes,  Executive  Mansion,  Washington: 

"Dear   Sir:    Mrs.  Grant  joins   me  in  thanks  (o   you   and    Mrs.  Ila\ 
your  kind  wishes  and  your  message  iv<  eived  on  board  this  boat  jus!  as  »<■  an 
pushing  out  from  the  wharf.     We  unite  in  returning  our  cordial  greetings,  and 
in  expressing  our  best  wishes   for  your  health,  happiness,  and  success  in   your 


Ml:  Vl:k  \  I  Hi:,     r.     hi  i    \  \\   \\   \ 


most  responsible  position.     Hoping  to  return  to  my  country  to  find  it  prosper- 
ous in  business,  and  with  cordial  feelings  renewed  between  all  sei  tions, 
"  I  am,  dear  sir,  truly  your-,, 

"U.S.  GR  W  IV 

<  >n  board  the  "Magenta"  luncheon  was  served,  General 
Grant  occupying  the  head  of  the  table.  The  first  toast  of  the 
occasion,  offered  by  Mayor  Stokley,  was,  "God-speed  to  our 
honored  guest,  Ulysses  S.  Grant."  The  General  responded 
briefly,  being  evidently  affected  1>\  tin-  warmth  of  the  greeting 
and  the  compliments  which  wcvr  being  showered  upon  him. 

The  health  of  General  Sherman  was  next  toasted,  and  he 
replied : 


8 


PHILADELPHIA    TO   LONDON. 


"  Mr.  Mayor  and  Geni  lemen  :  This  proud  welcome  along  the  shores  of 
the  Delaware  demands  a  response.  General  Grant  leaves  here  to-day  with  the 
highest  rewards  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  on  his  arrival  on  the  other  side  there  is 
no  doubt  he  will  be  welcomed  by  friends  with  as  willing  hands  and  warm  hearts 
as  those  he  leaves  behind.  Ex-President  Grant — General  Grant — while  you,  his 
fellow-citizens,  speak   of  him  and  regard  him  as  Ex-President  Grant,  I  cannot 

but  think  of  the  times  of  the  war, 
of  General  Grant,  President  of  the 
United  States  for  eight  years,  yet  I 
cannot  but  think  of  him  as  the  Gen- 
eral Grant  of  Fort  Donelson.  I  think 
of  him  as  the  man  who,  when  the 
country  was  in  the  hour  of  its  peril, 
restored  its  hopes  when  he  marched 
triumphant  into  Fort  Donelson. 
After  that  none  of  us  felt  the  least 
doubt  as  to  the  future  of  our  country, 
and  therefore,  if  the  name  of  Wash- 
ington is  allied  with  the  birth  of  our 
country,  that  of  Grant  is  forever  iden- 
tified with  its  preservation,  its  per- 
petuation. It  is  not  here  alone  on 
the  shores  of  the  Delaware,  that  the 
people  love  and  respect  you,  but  in 
Chicago  and  St.  Paul,  and  in  far-off 
San    Francisco,    the    prayers    go   up 

AT    M    V  L  J 

to-day  that  your  voyage  may  be  pros- 
perous and  pleasant,  and  that  you  may  have  a  safe  and  happy  return.  General 
Grant "  (extending  his  hand),  "  God  bless  you,  God  bless  you,  and  grant  you  a 
pleasant  journey  and  a  safe  return  to  your  native  land." 

Mayor  Stokley  then  said  : 

"General  Grant  :  As  I  now  feel  that  it  is  necessary  to  draw  these  fes- 
tivities to  a  close,  I  must  speak  for  the  City  of  Philadelphia.  I  am  sure  that  I 
express  the  feelings  of  Philadelphia  as  I  extend  to  you  my  hand,  that  I  give  to 
you  the  hands  and  the  hearts  of  all  Philadelphia  "  (cheers),  "  and  as  we  part 
with  you  now,  it  is  the  hope  of  Philadelphia  that  God  will  bless  you  with  a  safe 
voyage  and  a  happy  return  ;  and  with  these  few  words  I  say  God  bless  you, 
and  God  direct  and  care  for  you  in  your  voyage  across  the  ocean." 

General  Grant,  who  was  visibly  affected,  replied  : 

"Mr.  Mayor  and  Gentlemen  :  I  feel  much  overcome  with  what  I  have 
heard.  When  the  first  toast  was  offered  I  supposed  the  last  words  here  for  me 
had  been  spoken,  and  I  feel  overcome  by  the  sentiments  to  which  I  have  lis- 


i     THE  DELAWARE.  g 

tened,  and  which  I  feel  I  am  altogether  inadequate  to  respond  to.  1  don't 
think  that  the  compliments  ought  all  be  paid  to  me  or  an)  one  man  in  either 
of  the  positions  which  I  was  called  upon  to  fill. 

**  That  which  1  accomplished  —which  1  was  able  to  accomplish — 1  ow <•  to  the 
assistance  of  able  lieutenants.  1  was  so  fortunate  as  to  be  called  to  the  first 
position  in  the  army  of  the  nation,  and  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  select  lieuten- 
ants who  could  have  filled  "  (turning  toward  Sherman)  — "  had  it  been  nei  essary 
I  believe  some  of  these  lieutenants  could  have  filled  my  place  may  lie  better 
than  I  did."  (Cries  of  "  No.")  "  I  do  not,  therefore,  regard  myself  as  entitled 
to  all  the  praise. 

"I  believe  that  my  friend  Sherman  could  have  taken  my  place  as  a  soldier 
as  well  as  I  could,  and  the  same  will  apply  to  Sheridan."  (Cheers.)  "And  I 
believe,  finally,  that  if  our  country  ever  comes  into  trial  again,  young  men  will 
spring  up  equal  to  the  occasion,  and  if  one  fails,  there  will  be  another  to  take 
his  place."  (Great  cheers.)  "  Just  as  there  was  if  I  had  failed.  I  thank  you 
again  and  again,  gentlemen,  for  the  hearty  and  generous  reception  I  have  had 
in  your  great  city."  (Prolonged  cheers.) 


ARK'IV  H.    AT   QUEBPi     | 


Complimentary  speeches  were  also  made  by  I 
Fish,    Chandler,    Robeson,    Senator    Cameron,    and    Governor 
Hartranft. 

The  steamer  "  Indiana,"  having  on  board  the  officers  of  the 


IO 


/•////.. [/>/■:/./'///.  I    TO   LONDON. 


American  Line  of  Steamship  Company  and  a  number  of  invited 

guests,  was  reached  at  2.40  P.M.  by  the  "  Magenta  "  and  "  1  Iamil- 
ton."  This  was  off  Newcastle,  and  about  thirty-five  miles  be- 
low Philadelphia.  Here  Mrs.  Grant  and  her  son  Jesse  were 
transferred  from  the  "  Hamilton  "  to  the  "  Indiana  ;  "  after  which 
Genera]  Grant,  Governor  Hartranft,  and  a  few  friends  passed  on 
board  from  the  "Magenta."  A  salute  of  twenty-one  guns  was 
now  fired  from  the  "  Hamilton  ;  "  deafening  cheers  from  the 
crowded  steamers  were  mingled  with  the  shrill  noise  of  the 
steam  whistles;  and  presently  the  "  Indiana'  steamed  out  from 
the  midst  of  the  fleet. 


fo 


T"        I, 


KEMEF    -11  II- 


The  "Indiana"  made  the  passage  to  Liverpool  in  eleven 
days,  arriving  on  May  28th. 

Dunne  the  voyage  the  only  occurrence  calculated  to  mar 
its  pleasurable  features  was  the  death  and  burial  of  the  child  of 
a  steerage  passenger. 

That  reticence  which  had  characterized  the  manner  ot  the 
Lx-President  during  the  many  years  of  his  onerous  and  toilsome 
employment  in  the  service  of  his  country,  dropped  from  him  as 
though  it  were  a  mask  ;   now  that  he  was  free  from   official  care 


AT  SEA. 


I 


and  permitted  to  display  that  geniality  and  sympathetic  nature 
which  more  justly  belonged  to  him.  It  was  established  by  the 
universal  testimony  oi  those  on 
more  agreeable  companion  on 
a  sea  voyage  could  he  chosen 
than  the  *  ieneral.  I  [e  smoked 
and  chatted  in  the  smoking 
room  ;    entered,     with 


interest 


tl 


AKKIVAI.     \  I     LIVE  !   I 


into  the  diverse  games  which 
were  proposed ;  conversed 
freely  on  all  subjects  except 
politics;  and  charmed  every 
one  by  his  urbanity  and  good 
fellowship.  It  is  even  on 
record  that  he  succeeded  in 
winning  the  friendship  of  some 
persons  on  board  who  had 
been  for  years  politically  and 
personally  opposed  to  him. 

( ieneral  ( irant  appreciated 
highly  the  enthusiasm  which  had  greeted  him  on  his  departure 
from  his  native  land.  Such  a  scene  as  had  accompanied  him  on 
his  way  down  the  river  had  never  before  been  witnessed  in  this 
country,  and  it  made  on  its  recipient  a  vivid  impression.  Ib- 
could  hardly  refer  to  this  scene-  without  emotion,  and  it  certainly 
repaid  him,  in  his  own  modest  estimation,  for  all  his  services  to  his 
countrymen,  (ieneral  Grant  enjoyed  the  best  of  health  during 
the  entire  voyage,  never  missing  a  meal.  Mrs.  Grant  suffered 
slightly  from  maldc  mer.  According  to  Captain  Sargent,  the  ex- 
cellent officer  ot  the  ship,  (ieneral  Grant  was  the  most  interest- 
ing and  entertaining  talker  he  had  ever  met.  "  In  fact,"  said 
Captain  Sargent,  "then-  is  no  one  who  can  make  himself  more 
entertaining  or  agreeable  in  his  conversation — when  nobody  has 
an  '  ax  to  grind.'  "  This  rough  speech  gives  a  better  insight  into 
the  true  reason  of  General  Grant's  distaste  for  talking  while  in 
office  than  could  be  otherwise  expressed  in  a  whole  chapter. 
The  fact  was  that  in  his  official   capacity  he   had  always   to  be 


12 


PHILADELPHIA    TO  LONDON. 


"on  guard,"  as  few  ever  approached  him  without  a  selfish  pur- 
pose, or  "  an  ax  to  grind." 

On  the  first  morning  at  sea,  General  Grant  said  "that  he 
felt  better  than  he  had  for  sixteen  years,  from  the  fact  that  he 
had  no  letters  to  read,  and  no  telegraphic  dispatches  to  attend 
to."  Indeed,  this  sense  of  freedom  from  the  strain  of  such  unre- 
mitting devotion  to  severe  application  was  not  unnatural  in  the 
beginning  of  General  Grant's  journey,  and  was  the  predominant 
impression  which  his  manners  conveyed  to  those  around  him. 


PORT  OF   LIVERPOOL. 


General  Grant  smoked  incessantly  during  the  voyage,  a  test,  as 
every  ocean  traveler  is  aware,  of  any  one's  capacity  to  resist  the 
effects  of  the  motion  of  the  sea.  The  voyage  was  a  rough  one, 
and  the  weather  did  not  improve  as  the  ship  neared  port.  Off 
Fastnet  Light  she  had  to  lay  to  for  eight  hours  in  a  fog ;  when 
this  lifted,  the  Irish  coast  was  in  sight.  On  the  day  before  ar- 
riving at  Oueenstown,  the  cabin  passengers  of  the  "Indiana" 
presented  to  Captain  Sargent,  her  estimable  commander,  a  let- 
ter of  compliment  and  thanks  for  his  courtesy  as  a  gentleman, 
and  skill  as  a  seaman,  General  Grant  being  the  spokesman. 


LIVERPOOL.  ,  , 

At  about  seven  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  May  27th,   the 
"  Indiana  "  entered  Queenstown  harbor.      Here  a  tug  boarded 

the  steamship,  bringing  to  meet  General  Grant,  Mr.  J.  Russell 
Young,  and  a  number  of  prominent  citizens,  who  welcomed  the 
General  to  Ireland,  and  cordially  invited  him  to  remain  lor  a 
time  among  them.  This  deputation  was  received  in  the  cap- 
tain's cabin,  where  General  Grant  heard  their  kindly  expres- 
sions of  welcome  with  evident   satisfaction.      He   responded  to 


BROWN    I.IBKAKV    AND   ART  GALLERY,    LIVER]  


these  briefly,  regretting  that  arrangements  already  made  for  the 
route  of  his  journey  would  prevent  his  acceptance  of  the  imita- 
tion until  a  later  period,  when  he  should  certainly  avail  himself 
of  their  hospitality.  Letters  and  dispatches  which  had  been 
awaiting  were  delivered,  and  the  "Indiana"  again  pushed  out 
to  sea,  followed  by  hearty  cheers  from  the  kindly  Irishmen  on 
the  tug.  Among  the  General's  letters  received  at  this  point, 
were  a  large  number  from  the  leading  statesmen  of  England, 
conveying  invitations  to  a  round  of  receptions  and  dinners — a 
foretaste  of  the  friendly  hospitality  which  was  to  characterize  his 
visit. 

The  "  Indiana"  arrived  at  Liverpool  on  May  28th.  I  [ere  a 
bright  and  pleasant  day  welcomed  the  travelers  ;  the  ships  in 
the  Mersey  displayed  the  American  and  other  flags,  and  at  the 
clock  where  the  passengers  from  the  steamships  landed,  the 
Mayor  of  Liverpool,  Mr.  A.  R.  Walker,  was  in  readiness  to  re- 
ceive General  Grant,  and  to  extend  to  him  the  courtesies  of 
the  great  commercial  city.      Here  also  was  General  Adam  Ba- 


14  PHILADELPHIA    TO   LONDON. 

deau,  the  General's  old-time  aide-de-camp,  now  United  States 
Consul  at  London.  Friendly  salutations  having  been  offered 
and  received,  the  Mayor  of  Liverpool  addressed  General  Grant 
as  !< >11< )\\s  : 

"General  Grant  :  I  am  proud  that  it  has  fallen  to  my  lot,  as  Chief  Magis- 
trate of  Liverpool,  to  welcome  to  the  shores  of  England  so  distinguished  a  citi- 
zen of  the  United  States.  You  have,  sir,  stamped  your  name  on  the  history  i  ii 
the  world  by  your  brilliant  career  as  a  soldier,  and  still  more  as  a  statesman  in 
the  interests  of  peace.  In  the  name  of  Liverpool,  whose  interests  are  so  closely 
allied  with  your  great  country,  I  bid  you  heartily  welcome,  and  I  hope  Mrs. 
Grant  and  yourself  will  enjoy  your  visit  to  old  England." 

General  Grant  thanked  the  Mayor  for  his  reception.  The 
Mayor  presented  to  the  General  several  prominent  citizens  of 
Liverpool,  and  then  the  whole  party  drove  off  to  the  Adelphi 
Hotel.  On  the  following  day  the  General,  accompanied  by 
the  Mayor  and  a  deputation  of  citizens,  visited  the  docks. 
The  party  embarked  on  the  tender  "Vigilant."  The  boat 
proceeded  as  far  as  the  extreme  north  end  of  the  river  wall, 
and  the  party  minutely  inspected  the  new  dock  works  in  pro- 
gress. On  their  return  they  visited  the  Town  Hall,  where 
they  were  entertained  by  the  Mayor  and  a  company  numbering 
some  sixty  or  seventy  gentlemen  and  ladies,  after  which  they 
passed  some  time  in  inspecting  the  Liverpool  Free  Library. 
The  reception  in  Liverpool  was  closed  by  a  banquet  tendered 
to  General  Grant  and  his  party  by  the  Mayor. 

On  Wednesday  morning,  May  30th,  General  Grant  left 
Liverpool  for  Manchester,  where  he  was  the  guest  of  Mayor 
Heywood,  and  publicly  received  by  that  official  in  the  Town 
Hall,  being  accompanied  thither  by  a  deputation  of  the  City 
Council  which  met  him  at  the  station.  He  was  then  escorted 
on  a  round  of  visits  among  the  celebrated  manufactories  of 
Manchester  to  the  warehouse  of  Sir  James  Watts,  to  the 
Assize  Courts,  and  the  Royal  Exchange.  At  the  latter  building 
a  large  assemblage  of  merchants  were  gathered  who  received 
the  General  enthusiastically.  The  party  was  met  by  the  mem- 
bers of  Parliament  for  Manchester — Mr.  Birley  and  Mr.  Jacob 
Bright,  and  by  the  Dean  of  Manchester.     The  Mayor  presented 


MANCHESTER. 


<5 


an  address,  preceding  it  by  recalling  the  circumstance  that  when 
he  previously  held  the  office  of  Mayor,  fourteen  years  before,  it 
had  been  his  duty  to  welcome  the  captain  ol  the  "George 
Griswold "  reliel  ship,  which  came  from  America  laden  with 
provisions  for  Lancashire  during  the  cotton  famine.  The 
address  was  then  read  by  the  Town  Clerk. 


■■(' 

•K>- 

1 

1 

,    a^i 

I  IME    51  REE  I      I  IVERPOOI  . 


In  his  reply  the  General  said  : 

"  Mr.  Mayor,  Members  of  the  Council  of  Manchester,  Ladies  and 
Gentlemen:  It  is  scarcely  possible  for  me  to  give  utterance  to  the  feelings 
called  forth  by  the  receptions  which  have  been  accorded  me  since  my  arrival 
in  England.  In  Liverpool,  where  I  spent  a  couple  of  days,  I  witnessed  continu- 
ously the  same  interest  that  has  been  exhibited  in  the  streets  and  in  the  public 
buildings  of  your  city.  It  would  be  impossible  for  any  person  to  have  SO  much 
attention  paid  to  him  without  feeling  it,  and  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  give  ex- 
pression to  the  sentiments  which  have  been  evoked  by  it.  I  had  intended  upon 
my  arrival  in  Liverpool  to  have  hastened  through  to  London,  and  from  thai 
city  to  visit  the  various  points  of  interest  in  your  country,  Manchester  bi 
one  of  the  most  important  among  them.  I  am,  and  have  been  for  many  years, 
fully  aware  of  the  great  amount  of  manufactures  of  Manchester,  many  ol 
which  find  a  market  in  my  own  country.  I  was  very  well  aware,  during  the 
war,  of  the  sentiments  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people  ol  M  Qi  hi  ter  toward 
the  country  to  which  I  have  the  honor  to  belong,  and  also  of  the  sentiments 


i6 


riULA]U-:U'lIIA    TO   LONDON. 


with  regard  to  the  struggle  in  which  it  fell  to  my  lot  to  take  a  humble  part.  It 
was  a  great  trial  for  us.  For  your  expressions  of  sympathy  at  that  time  there 
exists  a  feeling  of  friendship  toward  Manchester  distinct  and  separate  from 
that  which  my  countrymen  also  feel,  and  I  trust  always  will  feel,  toward  every 
part  of  England.  1  therefore  accept  on  the  part  of  my  country,  the  compli- 
ments which  have  been  paid  to  me  as  its  representative,  and  thank  you  for 
them  heartily." 


Jacob    Bright,    Esq.,    M.P. 


for  Manchester,  proposed  the 
health  of  the  Mayor,  referring 
to  the  fact  that  in  the  great 
American  conflict  General 
Grant  had  not  fought  for  con- 
quest or  for  fame,  but  to  give 
freedom  to  the  people,  and 
preserve  the  union  of  his  native 
land.  A  wonderful  magna- 
nimity bad  been  shown  in  all 
his  conduct,  and  it  was  truly 
said  that,  when  the  conflict 
was  over,  he  employed  all  his 
ereat  influence  to  obtain  ren- 
erous  terms  forthevanquished. 
He  trusted  that  wherever 
General  Grant  went  in  Eng- 

ST.    NICHOLAS   CHURCH    ami   SIGNAL   TOWER— LIVERPOOL.       ];^]-|(j  Jig        WOlllcl       TCCeive       tile 

honor  that  was  his  due. 

A  deputation  of  American  merchants  resident  in  Man- 
chester waited  upon  the  General  at  the  close  of  the  reception, 
and  offered  him  a  welcome. 

On  Thursday,  the  31st  May,  General  Grant  took  luncheon 
with  the  Mayor  and  Corporation  of  Salford.  During  this  enter- 
tainment the  General,  in  proposing  the  health  of  the  Mayor 
and  Mayoress,  said  : 

"  My  reception  since  my  arrival  in  England  has  been  to  me  very  expressive, 
and  one  for  which  I  have  to  return  thanks  on  behalf  of  my  country.  I  cannot 
help  feeling  that  it  is  my  country  that  is  honored  through  me.  It  is  the  affec- 
tion which  the  people  of  this  island  have  for  their  children  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Atlantic,  which  they  express  to  me  as  an  humble  representative  of  their 
offspring." 


/././(  ESTER. 


'7 


At   Leicester  an    address   was  presented    in    behalf  of  the 
Mayor,   Magistrates,   Aldermen  and   Council  of  the  Borough. 

In  acknowledging  this  address  General  Grant  said: 

"  Allow  me,  in  behalf  of  my  country  and  myself,  to  return  you  thanks  for 
this  honor,  and  for  your  kind  reception  as  well  as  for  the  other  kind  receptions 
which  I  have  had  since  the  time  that  I  first  landed  on  the  soil  of  Great  Britain. 
As  children  of  this  great  commonwealth,  we  feel  that  you  must  have  some 
reason  to  be  proud  of  our  advancement  since  our  separation  from  the  mother 
country.  I  can  assure  you  of  our  heartfelt  good  will,  and  express  to  you  our 
thanks  on  behalf  of  the  American  people." 


The  General  was  accompanied  to  London  by  General 
Badeau,  Mr.  Ellis, 
the  chairman  of  the 
Midland  Railway, 
and  Mr.  Allport,  the 
general  manager. 
At  Bedford  the  train 
was  met  by  the 
Mayor  of  the  city, 
who  presented  him 
with  an  address, 
terming  him  the 
Hannibal      of     the 


■wn  i*-- 


, , 

rtii  rt 


S*wJB*i 


imencan      armies, 


[OWN    HAL]  ,    WANCH1      n 


and  praying  that  he  might  be  spared  to  enjoy  the  honors  and 
rewards  which  would  continue  to  be  heaped  upon  him.  The 
General  thanked  the  Major  for  his  courtesy,  and  regretted  that 
he  could  not  make  a  speech  that  would  compare  with  the 
eloquence  of  his  British  friends. 

Il  the  reception  which  had  thus  far  attended  General  Grant's 
appearance  in  England  was  a  surprise  to  him — and  he  fre- 
quently gave  expression  to  such  a  sentiment  regarding  it — to 
his  fellow-citizens  at  home  it  was  a  revelation. 

I  his  chapter  may  not  inappropriately  be  closed  b]  G<  neral 
('.rant's  letter  after  his  arrival  in  England,  to  his  friend  George 
W.  Childs. 


PHILADELPHIA    TO  LONDON. 

"London,  June  19th,  1877. 
"  My  Dear  Mr.  Childs: 

"  After  an  unusually  stormy  passage  for  any  season  of  the  year,  and 
continuous  sea-sickness  generally  among  the  passengers  after  the  second  day 
out,  we  reached  Liverpool  Monday  afternoon,  the  28th  of  May.  Jesse  and 
1  proved  to  he  among  the  few  good  sailors.  Neither  of  us  felt  a  moment's 
uneasiness  during  the  voyage.  I  had  proposed  to  leave  Liverpool  immediately 
on  arrival  and  proceed  to  London,  where  I  knew  our  Minister  had  made 
arrangements  for  the  formal  reception,  and  had  accepted  for  me  a  few  invi- 
tations of  courtesy.  But  what  was  my  surprise  to  find  nearly  all  the  ship- 
ping in  port  at  Liverpool  decorated  with  flags  of  all  nations,  and  from  the 
mainmast  of  each  the  flag  of  the  Union  most  conspicuous.  The  docks  were 
lined  with  as  many  of  the  population  as  could  find  standing-room,  and  the 
streets  to  the  hotel  where  it  was  understood  my  party  would  stop  were  packed. 
The  demonstration  was,  to  all  appearances,  as  hearty  and  as  enthusiastic  as  in 
Philadelphia  on  our  departure.  The  Mayor  was  present  with  his  state  carriage, 
to  convey  us  to  the  hotel ;  and  after  that  he  took  us  to  his  beautiful  country 
residence,  some  six  miles  out,  where  we  were  entertained  with  a  small  party  of 
gentlemen,  and  remained  over  night.  The  following  day  a  large  party  was  given 
at  the  official  residence  of  the  Mayor  in  the  city,  at  which  there  were  some  one 
hundred  and  fifty  of  the  distinguished  citizens  and  officials  of  the  corporation 
present.  Pressing  invitations  were  sent  from  most  of  the  cities  in  the  kingdom 
to  have  me  visit  them.  I  accepted  for  a  day  at  Manchester,  and  stopped  a 
few  moments  at  Leicester  and  at  one  other  place.  The  same  hearty  welcome 
\\;is  shown  at  each  place,  as  you  have  no  doubt  seen.  ...  I  appreciate 
the  fact,  and  am  proud  of  it,  that  the  attentions  I  am  receiving  are  intended 
more  for  our  country  than  for  me  personally.  I  love  to  see  our  country  hon- 
ored and  respected  abroad,  and  I  am  proud  that  it  is  respected  by  most  all 
nations,  and  by  some  even  loved.  It  has  always  been  my  desire  to  see  all 
jealousies  between  England  and  the  United  States  abated,  and  every  sore 
healed.  Together,  they  are  more  powerful  for  the  spread  of  commerce  and 
civilization  than  all  others  combined,  and  can  do  more  to  remove  causes 
of  war  by  creating  mutual  interests  that  would  be  so  much  endangered  by 
war.     .     .     . 

"U.  S.  GRANT." 


z 
o 

Q 
Z 
O 


fa. 

o 


fa! 
X 
H 

fa. 
O 

s 
o 

Q 
fa) 
fal 
PS 
fa. 

w 
as 


z 
o 

< 
H 
Z 

fa] 


CHAPTER    II. 


I.oXIx  IN. 


and 


HE  narrative  of  General  Grant's  visit  to  London  must 
be  confined  to  a  record  of  the  honors  paid  him 
by  various  English  public  men,  by  the  people,  by 
municipal  bodies  like  that  of  the  City  of  London, 
>v  the  Queen.  To  print  in  detail  all  that  was  said 
and  written  on  the  occasion  of  the  General's  month's  stay  in 
London,  would  be  to  print  a  volume.  I  shall  therefore  con- 
fine myself  to  the  General's  movements,  and  those  ceremonies 
incident  to  the  stay  which  attracted  attention  at  the  time,  and 
which  are  worthy  of  remembrance  as  part  of  the  history  of  the 
two  countries. 

The  morning  after  arriving  in  London,  General  Grant  went 
to  the  Oaks  at  Epsom,  where  he  met  for  the  first  time  the 
Prince  of  Wales. 

'9 


20 


LONDON. 


On  the  evening  of  the  2d  of  June  the  General  dined  with 
the   Duke   of  Wellington  at   Apsley  House.     On    Sunday,  the 

3d,  he  visited  Westminster  Abbey,  Dean  Stanley  in  the  course 
of  his  sermon  making  a  graceful  allusion  to  the  presence  in 
England  of  the  Ex-President  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
desire  of  the  English  people  to  honor  America  by  honoring  its 
illustrious  representative. 

On  the  evening  of  the  5th,  Mr.  Pierrepont,  the  American 
Minister,  gave  the  General  a  reception  at  his  house  in  Cavendish 
Square.      Cavendish  Square  is  the  center  of  what  may  be  called 


■ 


ir1f..".ti&  ■ 


<■■::?/.&  A  * j  Ji 


the  Faubourg  Cen'tralain  of  London.  The  American  Embassy 
is  a  fine  old  English  mansion,  with  a  capacious  interior,  but  with 
a  dark,  somber  exterior.  It  adjoins  a  grim  castellated  edifice 
which  is  the  residence  of  the  Duke  of  Portland,  from  which 
Thackeray  is  said  to  have  drawn  his  description  of  the  House 
of  the  Marquis  of  Stein  in  "  Vanity  Fair."  Cavendish  Square  is 
the  center  of  the  homes  of  the  Bentincks  and  other  great  no- 
blemen, and  was  the  refuge  for  the  aristocracy  when  driven 
from  their  houses  in  Soho  Square,  by  the  mob  of  1730.  It  is 
traversed  by  "the  long  unlovely  street"  where  Hallam  lived,  of 
which   Tennyson   writes  in    "In  Memoriam."     The  Pierrepont 


I  A.VENDISH  SQUARE.  2  , 

reception  was  attended  by  leading  representatives  "I"  both  par- 
ties. Lord  Beao  msfield  sent  his  regrets  that  he  could  not  attend 
on  account  of  illness.  The  royal  family  were  absent  I 
the  court  was  in  mourning  for  the  recently  deceased  <  |ueen  of  the 
Netherlands.  Amongthose  who  crowded  the  capacious  saloons 
of  the  embassy  won-  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  Duke  of  Leeds 
and  the  Duke  of  Beaufort,  the  Marquis  of  Salisbury,  the  Marquis 
of  Hertford,  Earl  Derby,  Earl  Shaftesbury,  John  Bright,  Mr. 
Gladstone,  Lord  Houghton,  the  Marquis  of  Ripon,  the  Marquis 
of  Lome,  and  representatives  of  every  phase  "I  English  society. 
On  the  6th  of  June,  the  General  dined  with  Lord  Carnarvon. 
(  )n  the  7th  he  was  presented  at  court.  On  the  8th  he  made  a 
hurried  visit  to  Lath,  where  an  address  was  presented  by  the 
Mayor.  On  the  evening  of  the  8th  there  was  a  dinner  at  the 
Duke  of  Devonshire's  and  a  reception  by  Consul-General 
Badeau.  The  latter  was  a  brilliant  affair,  and  was  attended  by 
large  numbers  of  the  nobility  and  many  notable  persons  of  Eng- 
lish society.  On  the  9th,  there  was  a  dinner  with  Lord  Gran- 
ville.     ( )n  the  10th,  General  Grant  dined  with  Sir  Charles  Dilke. 

Two  or  three  days  were  given  by  the  General  to  a  visit  to 
Southampton,  where  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Sartoris,  resides.  This 
was  a  pleasant  episode  in  the  routine  of  dinners,  receptions, 
and  excitement.  The  General  and  family  enjoyed  exceedingly 
their  drives  round  the  southern  coast  to  Netley  Abbey  and 
other  places  of  historic  interest  about  Southampton,  which  never 
looked  so  beautiful  as  in  this  calm  summer  weather. 

On  the  15th  of  June  took  place  one  of  the  most  important 
incidents  connected  with  the  General's  visit  to  Europe — the 
conferring  upon  him  of  the  freedom  of  the  City  of  London. 
This  is  the  highest  honor  that  can  be  paid  by  this  ancient  and 
renowned  corporation.  The  freedom  of  the  city  was  presented 
in  a  gold  casket.  The  obverse  central  panel  contains  a  view  of 
the  Capitol  at  Washington,  and  on  the  right  and  left  are  the 
General's  monogram  and  the  arms  of  the  Lord  Mayor.  On  the 
reverse  side  is  a  view  of  the  entrance  to  the  Guildhall  and  an 
inscription.  At  the  end  are  two  figures,  also  in  gold,  represent- 
ing the  City  of  London  and  the  Republic  of  the   United    : 


22 


LONDON. 


These  figures  bear  enameled  shields.  At  the  corners  are  dou- 
ble columns,  laurel-wreathed,  with  corn  and  cotton,  and  on  the 
cover  a  cornucopia,  as  a  compliment  to  the  fertility  ami  pros- 
perity of  the  United  States.  The  cover  is  surmounted  by  the 
arms  of  the  City  of  London,  and  in  the  decorations  are  inter- 
woven the  rose,  the  shamrock,  and  the  thistle.  The  casket  is 
supported  by  American  eagles  in  gold,  standing  on  a  velvet 
plinth  decorated  with  stars  and  stripes. 

The  ceremonies  attending  the  presentation  of  the  freedom 
of  the  City  of  London  are  stately  and  unique.  Guildhall,  one 
of  the  most  ancient  and  picturesque  buildings  in  the  city,  was 
specially  prepared   for  the  occasion,   and  eight  hundred  guests 

were  invited  to  the  ban- 
quet, a  considerable  pro- 
portion of  them  being 
ladies.  There  were  the 
members  of  the  Corpora- 
tion, the  American  Min- 
ister, the  Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer,  members 
of  Parliament,  and  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Ameri- 
can colony  resident  in 
London.  On  arriving  at 
the  Guildhall  the  General 
was  received  by  a  deputation  of  four  aldermen,  with  the  chair- 
man and  four  members  of  the  City  Lands  Committee,  including 
the  mover  and  seconder  of  the  resolution  presenting  the  free- 
dom. This  deputation  conducted  the  General  to  his  place  in 
the  Common  Council  on  the  left  hand  of  the  Lord  Mayor.  The 
Lord  Mayor,  Sir  Thomas  White,  came  in  state  from  the  Man- 
sion House.  The  passage  leading  to  the  library  was  guarded 
by  a  detachment  of  the  London  Rifle  Brigade. 

At  one  o'clock  the  Common  Council  was  opened  in  ordinary 
form  for  the  transaction  of  business.  The  Council  never  de- 
viates from  its  established  routine,  not  even  for  ceremonies.  A 
resolution   was  passed  with  reference  to   some  ordinary  matter 


liilililillinn mi 


CASKET — FHEEDOM  OK  LONDON. 


GUILDHALL.  2  •. 

of  municipal  interest,  and  die  Town  Clerk  read  the  minutes  of 
the  past  meeting.  This  over,  the  Chamberlain,  Mr.  II.  Scott, 
addressed  General  Grant  and  said: 

"The  unprecedented  facilities  of  modern  travel,  and  the  running  to  and  fro 
of  all  classes  in  our  day,  have  brought  to  our  shores  unwonted  visitors  from 
Asia,  as  well  as  from  Europe — rulers  of  empires  both  ancient  and  of  recent 
creation  ;  but  amongst  them  all  we  have  n.n  as  yet  received  a  President  of  the 
United  States  of  America — a  power  great,  nourishing,  and  free,  hut  so  youthful 
that  it  celebrated  only  last  year  it-  first  centennial.     A  visit  of  the  ruling  Presi- 


MEET1NG   THE   I'HINCE  OF   WALES. 


dent  of  those  States  is  scarcely  to  be  looked  for,  so  highly  valued  are  his  ser- 
vices at  home  during  his  limited  term  of  office  ;  you  must  bear  with  us,  there- 
fore, General,  if  we  make  much  of  an  Ex- President  of  the  great  Republic  of 
the  New  World  visiting  the  old  home  of  his  fathers.  It  is  true  that  tl 
fathers — Pilgrim  Fathers  we  now  call  them — chafed  under  the  straitness  of  the 
parental  rule,  and  sought  in  distant  climes  the  liberty  then  denied  them  at 
home  :  it  is  true,  likewise,  that  their  children  subsequently  resented  the  inter- 
ference, well  intended  if  unwise,  of  their  venerated  parent,  and  manifested  a 
spirit  of  independence  of  parental  restraint  not  unbecoming  in  grown-up  sons 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon   stock,     Yet,   for  all   this,  there  is  furnished  from   time  to 


,,,  LONDON. 

time,  abundant  evidence  that  both  <  hildren  and  parent  have  forgotten  old  dif- 
ferences and  forgiven  old  wrongs;  that  the  children  continue  to  revere  the 
mother  country,  while  she  is  not  wanting  in  maternal  pride  at  witnessing  so 
numcnms,  so  thriving,  and  so  freedom-loving  a  race  of  descendants.  If  other 
indications  were  wanting  of  mutual  feelings  (if  regard,  we  should  find  them,  on 
the  <>ue  hand,  in  the  very  hospitable  and  enthusiastic  reception  accorded  to  the 
Heir  Apparent  to  the  British  throne,  and  subsequently  to  H.  R.  H.  Prince  Ar- 
thur, when,  during  your  presidency,  he  visited  your  country  ;  and  on  the  other 
hand,  in  the  cordial  reception  which,  we  are  gratified  to  observe,  you  have  re- 
ed  from  the  hour  when  you  set  foot  on  the  shores  of  Old  England.  In  this 
spirit,  and  with  these  convictions,  the  Corporation  of  London  receives  you  to- 
day  with  all  kindliness  of  welcome,  desiring  to  compliment  you  and  your  coun- 
try in  vour  person  by  conferring  upon  you  the  honorary  freedom  of  their  ancient 
city — a  freedom  which  had  existence  more  than  eight  centuries  before  your  first 
ancestors  se(  foot  on  Plymouth  Rock  ;  a  freedom  confirmed  to  the  citizens,  but 
not  originated,  by  the  Norman  conqueror,  which  has  not  yet  lost  its  significance 
or  its  value,  although  the  liberty  which  it  symbolizes  has  been  extended  to  other 
British  subjects,  and  has  become  the  inheritance  of  the  great  Anglo-American 
family  across  the  Atlantic.  But  we  not  only  recognize  in  you  a  citizen  of  the 
United  Stales,  hut  one  who  has  made  a  distinguished  mark  in  American  his- 
tory— a  soldier  whose  military  capabilities  brought  him  to  the  front  in  the  hour 
of  his  country's  sorest  trial,  and  enabled  him  to  strike  the  blow  which  termi- 
nated  fratrii  idal  war  and  reunited  his  distracted  country  ;  who  also  manifested 
magnanimity  in  the  hour  of  triumph,  and  amidst  the  national  indignation 
i  reated  b)  the  assassination  of  the  great  and  good  Abraham  Lincoln,  by  obtain- 
ing for  vanquished  adversaries  the  rights  of  capitulated  brethren  in  arms,  when 
some  would  have  treated  them  as  traitors  to  their  country.  We  further  recog- 
nize in  you  a  President  upon  whom  was  laid  the  honor,  and  with  it  the  respon- 
sibility, during  two  terms  of  office,  of  a  greater  and  more  difficult  task  than  that 
which  di  \  i lived  upon  you  as  a  general  in  the  field — that  of  binding  up  the  bleed- 
ing frame  of  society  which  had  been  rent  asunder  when  the  demon  of  slavery 
was  cast  out.  That  the  constitution  of  the  country  over  which  you  were  thus 
called  to  preside  survived  so  fearful  a  shock,  that  we  saw  it  proud  and  progres- 
sive, celebrating  its  centennial  during  the  last  year  of  your  official  rule,  evinces 
thai  the  task  which  vour  countrymen  had  committed  to  you  did  not  miscarry 
in  your  hands.  That  such  results  have  been  possible  must,  in  fairness,  be 
attributed  in  no  inconsiderable  degree  to  the  firm  but  conciliatory  policy  of 
your  administration  at  home  and  abroad,  which  is  affirmed  of  you  by  the  reso- 
lution of  this  honorable  Court  whose  exponent  and  mouthpiece  I  am  this  day. 
May  you  greatly  enjoy  your  visit  to  our  country  at  this  favored  season  of  the 
year,  and  may  vour  life  be  long  spared  to  witness  in  your  country,  and  in  our 
own — the  two  great  branches  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  family — a  career  of  increasing 
amity,  mutual  respect,  and  honest,  if  spirited  rivalry — rivalry  in  trade,  com- 
merce, agriculture,  and  manufacture  ;  in  the  arts,  science,  and  literature  ;  rivalry 
in  the  highest  of  all  arts,  how  best  to  promote  the  well-being  and  to  develop  the 


FREEDOM   OF  < '// ')'. 


25 


industry  of  nations,  how  to  govern  them  for  the  largest  good  to  the  greatest 
number,  and  for  the  advancement  of  peace,  liberty,  morality,  and  th 
quent  happiness  of  mankind.     Nothing  now  remains,  General,  but  that  1  should 
present  to  you  an  illuminated  ropy  of  the  resolutions  of  tins  honorable  Court, 

for  the  reception  of  which  an  appropriate  i  isket 
is  in  course  of  preparation  ;  and,  in  conclusion, 
offer  you,  in  the  name  of  this  honorable  Court, 
the  right  hand  of  fellowship  as  a  citizen  of  Lon- 
don." (Cheers.) 

( reneral  Grant  replied  : 

"  It  is  a  matter  of  some  regret  to 
that  I  have  never  cultivated  that 

of  public   speaking   which  might 
e  enabled  me  to  express  in  suit- 
able terms  my  gratitude  for  the  i  om- 


I  HE    \\  i:\l  F.    sol   I  ||  VMPTON. 


plimerit  which  has  been  paid  to  my  countrymen  and  myself  on  this  occa- 
sion. Were  I  in  the  habit  of  speaking  in  public,  I  should  claim  the  right 
to  express  my  opinion,  and  what  I  believe  will  be  the  opinion  of  my  country- 
men when  the  proceedings  of  this  day  shall  have  been  til  to  them. 
For  myself,  I  have  been  very  much  surprised  at  my  reception  al  all  places 
since  the  day  I  landed  at  Liverpool  up  to  my  appearance  in  this  the  greatest 


VDON. 


citj  in  the  world.  It  was  entirely  unexpected,  and  it  is  particularly  gratify- 
ing to  me.  1  believe  that  this  honor  is  intended  quite  as  much  for  the  country 
whi<  li  1  have  had  the  opportunity  of  serving  in  different  capa<  ities,  as  for  my- 
self, and  1  am  glad  thai  this  is  so,  because  1  want  to  see  the  happiest  relations 
existing,  not  only  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  but  also  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  all  other  nations.  Although  a  soldier  by  educa- 
tion and  profession,  1  have  never  felt  any  sort  of  fondness  for  war,  and  I  have 
never  advocated  it  except  as  a  means  of  peace.  I  hope  that  we  shall  always 
settle  our  differences  in  all  future  negotiations  as  amicably  as  we  did  in  a  recent 
instance.  I  believe  that  settlement  has  had  a  happy  effect  on  both  countries, 
and  that  from  month  to  month,  and  year  to  year,  the  tie  of  common  civiliza- 
tion and  common  blood  is  getting  stronger  between  the  two  countries.  My 
Lord  Mayor,  ladies,  and  gentlemen,  I  again  thank  you  for  the  honor  you  have 
done  me  and  my  country  to-day." 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  speech,  which  was  received  with 
hearty  cheering,  General  Grant  subscribed  his  name  to  the  roll 
of  honorary  freemen,  and  after  that  attended  a  luncheon.  This 
was  served  on  twenty  tables.  After  drinking  the  health  of  the 
Queen,  the  Lord  Mayor  proposed  the  health  of  General  Grant. 
Perhaps  I  can  give  no  better  description  of  the  General's  speech, 
and  of  the  impression  it  made  upon  those  present,  than  by  quot- 
ing the  account  from  the  pen  of  George  W.  Smalley,  the  dis- 
tinguished correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  who  was 
among  the  guests  present.  I  did  not  have  the  opportunity  of 
attending  the  festivities  at  the  Guildhall,  and  therefore  borrow 
Mr.  Smalley's  pen  as  that  of  an  accomplished  eye-witness. 
Speaking  of  General  Grant  as  an  orator,  a  character  in  which 
he  had  never  before  appeared,  Mr.  Smalley  said  that  he  had 
heard  three  speeches  in  one  day.  "  The  first,"  said  Mr.  Smalley, 
"  was  a  somewhat  elaborate  address  in  the  library  of  the  Guild- 
hall, in  response  to  the  still  more  elaborate  address  of  the  Cham- 
berlain in  offering  him  the  freedom  of  the  City  of  London.  It 
was  thoroughly  well  done  in  manner  and  matter.  The  second 
was  at  lunch  in  the  Guildhall,  and  was  simply  a  gem.  It  is  so 
clumsily  reported  in  this  morning's  papers  that  I  insert  here  the 
true  version.  The  Lord  Mayor  having  proposed,  and  the  guests 
having  drunk  General  Grant's  health,  the  General  replied  in 
these  words:  '  My  Lord  Mayor,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  :    Habits 


Gl  //./>//.!/./.. 


formed  in  early  life  and  early  education  press  upon  us  as  we  grow 
older.  I  was  brought  up  a  soldier — not  to  talking.  I  am  not 
aware  that  1  ever  fought  two  battles  on  the  same  day  in  the  same 
place,  ami  that  I  should  be  called  upon  to  make  two  spei  i  hes  on 
the  same  day  under  the  same  roof  is  beyond  my  understanding. 
What  I  do  un- 
derstand is,  that 
I  am  much  in- 
debted to  all  of 
you  for  the  com- 
I>  1  i  m  e  n  t  you 
have  paid  me. 
All  I  can  do  is 
to  thank  t  h  e 
Lord  Mayor  for 
his  kind  words, 
and  to  thank  the 
citizens  of  Great 
Britain  hen- 
present  in  the 
name  of  my 
country  and  for 
myself.' 

"I  never 
heard,"  conti- 
nues Mr.  Smal- 
ley,  "a  more 
perfect  speech 
of  its  kind  than 
that.     There    is 

a  charm,  a  felicity  in  the  turn  of  one  or  two  of  its  phrases  that 
would  do  credit  to  the  best  artists  in  words— to  Mr.  Kin-lake  or 
to  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold  themselves.  Later  in  the  day,  at  the 
quiet  and  almost  private  dinner  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  Mr. 
Thomas  Hughes  asked  the  company,  in  a  few  words  full  of 
grace  and  feeling,  to  drink  the  health  of  General  Grant.  Mr. 
Hughes  took  pains  to  say  that  the  occasion  was  not  formal,  and 


2g  LONDON. 

that  he  did  not  mean  to  impose  upon  his  guest  the  burden  of  a 
reply.  General  Grant  sat  looking  up  into  Mr.  Hughes' face; 
there  was  a  moment's  pause,  and  then  the  General,  screwing 
himself  slowly  up  out  of  his  chair  till  he  stood  erect  on  his  feet, 
said:  'Mr.  Hughes,  I  must  none  the  less  tell  you  what  grati- 
fication it  gives  me  to  hear  my  health  proposed  in  such  hearty 
words  by  Tom  Brown  of  Rugby.'  1  do  not  know  what  could  be 
better  than  that.  Still  later  in  the  evening,  during  the  exhibi- 
tion  of  fireworks,  General  Grant  sat  silent  while  his  own  portrait 
— a  capital  likeness — was  drawn  in  lines  of  changing  flame 
against  the  dark  background  of  Beckenham  Hills.  Not  a 
muscle  moved;  there  was  not  a  sign  of  pleasure  at  the  splendid 
compliment  paid  him;  not  a  movement  of  recognition  for  the 
cheers  with  which  the  great  crowd  below  hailed  the 'portrait. 
But  when  this  had  burnt  out,  and  the  next  piece — a  sketch  of 
the  building  which  crowns  the  heights  above  the  Potomac — was 
blazing,  a  slight  smile  parted  the  General's  lips  as  he  remarked 
to  Lady  Ripon,  who  sat  next  to  him:  'They  have  burnt  me  in 
effigy,  and  now  they  are  burning  the  Capitol  !  '" 

The  entertainment  at  the  Crystal  Palace  to  which  Mr.  Smal- 
ley  refers,  was  specially  arranged  for  General  Grant.  The 
American  and  English  national  airs  were  played.  "Hearts 
of  Oak  "  was  sung  by  Signor  Toli,  and  was  followed  by  "Hail 
Columbia"  on  the  whole  band.  There  was  an  anniversary  over- 
ture with  a  chorus,  written  by  S.  G.  Pratt,  of  Chicago,  dedicated 
to  General  Grant,  and  performed  for  the  first  time  in  England 
on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  the  Crystal  Palace. 

Signor  Campobello  sang  Longfellow's  "  Village  Blacksmith," 
and  Mrs.  Osgood,  with  a  chorus,  "The  Star-spangled  Banner." 

On  the  1 6th  of  June,  the  General  and  family  dined  with  the 
Princess  Louise  and  the  Marquis  of  Lome,  at  the  Kensington 
Palace,  and  on  the  17th  with  Mr.  Morgan,  the  banker.  On  the 
1 8th,  Mr.  Smaller,  the  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune, 
entertained  the  General  at  breakfast  at  his  beautiful  house  in 
Hyde  Park  Square.  This  was  a  famous  gathering  in  some  re- 
ipects.  Among  those  present  were  Matthew  Arnold,  Robert 
Browning,  A.  W.  Kinglake,  Anthony  Trollope,  Professor  Htix- 


REFORM   CLUB.  .  , 

ley,  Thomas  Hughes,  F.  H.  Hill,  editor  of  the  Daily  News,  the 
Rt.  Hon.  Jas.  Stansfeld,  and  others.  John  Bright  sent  a  regret 
at  his  inability  to  be  present.  In  the  evening  there  was  a  dinner 
at  the  Reform  Club,  Lord  Granville,  wearing  his  ribbon  and  star 
of  the  Garter,  presiding-.  This  dinner  was  given  in  the  House 
Room  of  the  club,  and  those  present  were  mostly  representative 
of  the  Liberal  party  in  England.  Mr.  Pierrepont,  the  Minister, 
had  some  scruples  about  attending,  not  wishing,  in  his  repre 
sentative   capacity,  to   be  present   at  a  political  demonstration. 


PALACE, 


Among  those  present  were  Mr.  Geo.  11.  Boker,  the  American 
Minister  to  Russia,  Mr.  Mundella,  W.  E.  Forster,  Mr.  Bagston, 
Frederick  Harrison,  and  others.  After  the  toast  of  the  Queen 
had  been  proposed,  Mr.  Forster  made  a  speech  welcoming 
General  Grant,  and  paying  a  compliment  to  President  1  l.i\  es  i<  t 
his  reunion  policy,  which,  he  thought,  would  end  by  making  the 
United  States  what  they  were  before  the  war,  really  one  country, 
and  what  they  were  not  before  the  war,  one  country  and  \v<t-  at 
the  same  time.  To  this  Mr.  Boker  made  response,  dwelling 
upon    the   importance  of  sustaining  friendly  relations   between 


,0  LONDON. 

England  and  America,  and  recalling  the-  anxiety  that  all  Ameri- 
cans felt  for  English  friendship  during  our  war  with  the  South. 
Lord  Granville  then  proposed  the  health  of  General  Grant,  in 
the  ((Mils.'  of  which  he  alluded  to  the  beneficent  results  accruing 
to  both  nations  from  the  amicable  settlement  of  the  Alabama 
Claims.  The  General  in  his  response  said:  "I  am  overwhelmed 
by  the  kindness  shown  to  me  in  England,  and  not  only  to  me, 
but  to  my  country.  I  regret  that  I  am  unable  adequately  to 
express — even  with  the  aid  in  doing  so  of  the  omnipresent 
enterprise  of  the  New  York  Herald — to  express  my  thanks  for 
the  courtesy  I  have  received.  I  hope  the  opportunity  may  be 
afforded  me,  in  calmer  and  more  deliberate  moments,  to  put  on 
record  my  hcart\-  recognition  of  the  fraternal  sentiments  of  the 
English  people  and  the  desire  of  America  to  render  an  adequate 
return.  The  speech  ot  Lord  Granville  has  inspired  thoughts 
which  it  is  impossible  for  me  adequately  to  present.  Never 
have  I  lamented  so  much  as  now  my  poverty  in  phrases — my 
inability  to  give  due  expression  of  my  affection  for  the  mother 
country."  He  trusted  that  his  life  would  have  no  higher  aim 
than  to  contribute  as  much  as  possible  to  the  union  of  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking peoples  throughout  the  world. 

On  the  evening  of  the  19th  of  I  une,  the  General  dined  at 
the  Prince  of  Wales's,  at  Marlborough  House,  where  he  met  the 
Emperor  of  Brazil.  After  dinner,  he  drove  to  the  office  of  the 
London  Times,  and  was  received  by  J.  C.  Macdonald,  the  mana- 
ger of  that  paper,  and  was  shown  over  all  the  departments  of 
that  ancient  and  interesting  institution.  On  the  20th,  there 
was  a  dinner  at  Lord  Ripon's.  On  the  21st  he  dined  with 
Minister  Pierrepont  to  meet  the  Prince  of  Wales.  On  the  22c!, 
Mrs.  I  licks,  an  American  lady  resident  in  London,  gave  a  recep- 
tion, at  which  he  was  present,  while  in  the  evening  he  attended 
the  opera  at  Covent  Garden,  witnessing  the  performance  of 
"  Martlia."  The  General  was  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Grant  ami 
General  Badeau.  The  curtain  rose  upon  their  entrance,  dis- 
closing Mile.  Albani  and  the  full  chorus  of  the  company,  the 
rear  of  the  stage  being  grouped  with  American  flags.  The 
General  wore  his  uniform   as  general.      Mile.  Albani  sang  the 


TRINITY   <  ORPi  ORATION. 


3* 


"Star-spangled  Banner"  with  full  chorus  and  orchestral  ac- 
companiment, while  the  whole  audience  and  the  General  re- 
mained standing.  On  the  evening  of  the  221!  there  was  a 
banquet  given  by  the  Trinity  Corporation  in  their  hall  on  Tower 
Hill,  the  Prince  of  Wales  presiding.  '1'hc  company  was  a  dis- 
tinguished and  brilliant  one.  Among  others  were  Prince  Leo- 
pold, Prince  Christian  of  Schleswig-Holstein,  the  Prince  of 
Leiningen,  Prince  Edward  of  Saxe-Weimar,  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,   the    Earl    of  Derby,    and   others.     The    Prince   oi 


1     CASTLE. 


Wales  in  his  speech  said  :  "  It  is  a  matter  of  peculiar  gratifica- 
tion to  us  as  Englishmen  to  receive  as  our  guest  General  Grant. 
I  can  assure  him  for  myself  and  for  all  loyal  subjects  oi  the 
Queen,  that  it  has  given  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  see  him  as 
a  guest  in  this  country."  This  reference  to  the  General  was 
received  with  cheers.  Lord  Carnarvon,  who  was  then  Secre 
tary  for  Home  Affairs,  proposed  General  Grant's  health. 
Speaking  of  the  relations  between  America  and  England,  Lord 


LONDON. 

Carnarvon  said  he  believed  the  two  countries  were  entering 
upon  a  new  era  of  mutual  trust,  mutual  sympathy,  and  mutual 
support  and  strength.  "I  have  had,  perhaps,"  said  Lord  Car- 
narvon, "special  opportunities  of  observing  this  in  the  office  I 
have  the  honor  of  holding.  It  has  been  my  duty  to  be  con- 
nected with  the  great  Dominion  of  Canada,  stretching  as  it  does 
several  thousand  miles  along  the  frontier  of  the  United  States, 
and  during  the  last  three  or  four  years  I  can  truthfully  say  that 
nothing  impressed  me  more,  or  gave  me  more  lively  satisfac- 
tion, than  the  interchange  of  friendship  and  good  offices  which 
took  place  between  the  two  countries  under  the  auspices  of 
General  Grant."  The  General  thanked  the  Prince  of  Wales 
and  the  gentlemen  present  for  the  compliment  paid  to  him,  and 
the  dinner  came  to  an  end. 

The  next  morning  General  Grant  drove  to  Richmond  Park 
to  pay  a  visit  to  the  late  Earl  Russell.  This  distinguished 
nobleman  was  living  in  retirement,  at  an  advanced  age,  having 
quitted  public  life,  spending  his  few  remaining  years  at  Pem- 
broke Lodge,  a  house  given  to  him  by  the  Queen.  The 
General  found  Lord  Russell  extremely  well  considering  his 
years,  and  they  had  an  interesting  conversation  on  the  relations 
between  America  and  England,  arising  out  of  the  war,  and 
about  the  part  Lord  Russell  played  during  the  war.  On  Mon- 
day there  was  an  entertainment  at  Mr.  McHenry's  house, 
Holland  Park,  and  a  dinner  with  Lord  Derby  at  St.  James's 
Square, 

The  Queen  of  England  showed  a  desire  to  pay  a  compliment 
to  General  Grant  and  the  United  States  by  an  invitation  to  the 
General  and  his  family  to  visit  Windsor  Castle.  The  invitation 
was  as  follows:  "The  Lord  Steward  of  Her  Majesty's  house- 
hold is  commanded  by  the  Queen  to  invite  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Grant 
to  dinner  at  Windsor  Castle,  on  Wednesday,  the  27th  inst.,  and 
to  remain  until  the  following  day,  the  28th  of  June,  1877."  In- 
vitations were  also  extended  to  Mr.  Pierrepont  and  his  wife,  J. 
R.  Grant  and  General  Badeau.  On  the  26th  of  June  the  party 
left  for  Windsor  by  the  afternoon  train.  At  half-past  eight,  the 
Queen,  surrounded  by  her  court,  received  General  Grant  in  the 


BUCKINGHAM  PALACE. 


33 


magnificent  corridor  leading  to  her  private  apartments  in  the 
Quadrangle.  The  Quadrangle  is  formed  by  the  state  apartment  i 
on  the  north,  the  historical  Round  Tower  on  the  west,  and  the 
private  apartments  of  the  Queen  and  the  royal  household  on  the 
south  and  east.  This  corridor  is  520  feet  long,  and  extends 
round  the  south  and  east  sides  of  the  (  Hiadrantde.  The  ceiliii"-, 
which  is  lofty,  is  divided  into  large  squares,  the  centers  of  which 
bear  a  number  of  ornamental  devices,  typical  of  ancient,  mod- 
ern, and  ecclesiastical  history.  The  dinner  was  served  in  the 
Oak  Room.     Among  those  present  were  Prince  Leopold,  Prince 


Christian,  Princess  Beatrice,  Lord  and  Lady  Derby,  the  Duchess 
of  Wellington,  General  Badeau,  and  others.  The  ladies  were 
dressed  in  black  with  white  trimmings,  owing  to  the  recent  de- 
cease  of  the  Queen  of  Holland.  During  the  dinner  a  dispatch 
was  received  from  Governor  Hartranft,  of  Pennsylvania,  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  Providence,  Rhode  1  i  \xn. 
"  From  General  Hartranft,  Commander-in-Chief, 

"  T<>  General  V.  S.  Grant,  care  of  H.  M.  the  Qui  en  : 
"  Your  comrades,  in  national  encampment  assembled,  in  Rhode  Island,  send 


,.  LONDON. 


heartiest   greetings   to   their   old  commander,  and   desire,  through   England's 
Queen,  to  thank  England  for  ('.rant's  reception." 

To  this  the  General  responded: 

"  Grateful  for  telegram.     Conveyed  message  to  the  Queen.     Thank  my  old 
comrades." 

The  dispatch  came  just  as  the  party  were  assembling  for 
dinner,  and  was  given  by  the  General  to  her  majesty,  who 
expressed  much  pleasure  at  the  kind  greeting  from  America. 
During  the  dinner  the  band  of  the  Grenadier  Guards  played  in 
the  Quadrangle.  After  dinner  the  Queen  entered  into  conver- 
sation with  the  part)-,  and  about  ten  took  her  leave,  followed  by 
her  suite.  The  evening  was  given  to  conversation  and  whist, 
with  members  of  the  royal  household,  and  at  half-past  eleven 
the)-  retired.  The  next  morning  the  General  and  party  took 
their  leave  of  Windsor  and  returned  to  London. 

When  the  General  landed  in  Liverpool,  he  promised  to  re- 
turn to  that  city  and  accept  a  dinner  from  the  Mayor  and  cor- 
poration. This  promise  he  was  unable  to  fulfill  until  the  28th. 
On  the  evening  of  that  day  he  arrived  at  Liverpool,  accompa- 
nied by  his  son  and  General  Badeau,  and  at  once  drove  to  the 
house  of  the  Mayor,  Mr.  Walker.  About  two  hundred  and  fifty 
guests  attended  the  banquet,  mainly  citizens  of  the  flourish- 
ing and  prosperous  town  of  Liverpool.  In  proposing  a  toast 
to  General  Grant,  the  Mayor  congratulated  himself  on  the  fact 
that  Liverpool  was  the  first  place  in  which  the  General  set  foot 
on  British  soil.  The  band  played  "  Hail  Columbia,"  and  Gene- 
ral Grant  in  response  said  : 

"  Mr.  Mayor  and  Gentlemen  :  You  have  alluded  to  the  hearty  reception 
given  to  me  on  my  first  landing  on  the  soil  of  Great  Britain,  and  the  expecta- 
tions of  the  Mayor  that  this  reception  would  be  equaled  throughout  the  island 
have  been  more  than  realized.  It  has  been  far  beyond  anything  I  could  have 
expected."  (Cheers.)  "  I  am  a  soldier,  and  the  gentlemen  here  beside  me  know 
that  a  soldier  must  die.  I  have  been  a  President,  but  we  know  that  the  term  of 
the  presidency  expires,  and  when  it  has  expired  he  is  no  more  than  a  dead  sol- 
dier." (Laughter  and  cheers.)  "  But,  gentlemen,  I  have  met  with  a  reception  that 
would  have  done  honor  to  any  living  person."  (Cheers.)  "  I  feel,  however,  that 
the  compliment  has  been  paid,  not  to  me,  but  to  my  country.     I  cannot  help  but 


LIVERPOOL. 


55 


at  this  moment  being  highly  pleased  at  the  good  feeling  and  good  sentiment 
which  now  exist  between  the  two  peoples  who  of  all  others  should  be  good 
friends.  We  are  of  one  kindred,  of  one  blood,  of  one  Language,  and  ol 
civilization,  though  in  some  respects  we  believe  that  we,  being  younger,  surpass 
the  mother  country."  (Laughter.)  "  Vou  have  made  improvements  on  the  soil 
and  the  surface  of  the  earth  which  we  have  not  yet  clone,  but  whi<  h  we  do  not 
believe  will  take  us  as  long  as  it  took  you."  (Laughter  and  applause.)  "1  hi 
some  military  remarks  which  impressed  me  a  little  at  the  tune — 1  am  not  quite 
sure  whether  they  were  in  favor  of  the  volunteers  or  against  them.  I  can  only 
sav  from  my  own  observation  that  you  have  as  many  troops  at  Aldershott  as  we 
have  in  the  whole  of  our   regular  army,  notwithstanding  we    have   many  thou- 


IT   LIVERPOOL 


sands  of  miles  of  frontier  to  guard  and  hostile  Indian's  to  control.  But  if  it  be- 
came necessary  to  raise  a  volunteer  force,  I  do  not  think  we  could  do  better 
than  follow  your  example.  General  Fairchild  and  myself  are  examples  of 
volunteers  who  came  forward  when  their  assistance  was  necessary,  and  I  have- 
no  doubt  that  if  vou  ever  needed  such  servi,  es  \  ou  would  have  support  from 
your  reserve  forces  and  volunteers,  far  more  effective  than  you  can  conceive." 
(Cheers.) 


In  concluding,  the  General  proposed  the  health  of  the  Mayor, 
and  tht-  banquet  came  to  an  end. 

On  the  evening  of  the  29th,  General  Grant  dined  at  the 
Grosvenor  Hotel  to   meet   many  of  the   leading   journalists  of 


LONDON. 


London.     In  describing  this  dinner,  Mr.  Smalley,  of  the  New 
York  Tribune^  says : 

"General  Grant  himself — who  must  by  this  time  rank  as 
an  expert  in  such  matters — pronounces  his  dinner  at  the 
Grosvenor  Hotel  on  Friday,  one  of  the  most  enjoyable  among 
the  many  given  him  in  London.  Nearly  all  the  newspaper 
men  present  were,  naturally  enough,  Englishmen.  You  will 
hardly  find  their  names  mentioned  in  any  English  paper,  so 
close  is  the  veil  which  English  journalism  delights  to  throw 
around  the  individuals  who  make  it  their  profession.  I  hope  no 
great  harm  will  be  done  if  I  lift  a  corner  of  the  veil,   and  give 

you  a  glimpse  of 
some  of  the  men 
who  help  to  govern 
Great  Britain. 

"  I  could  not  be- 
gin with  a  name 
less  known  or  more 
wort  h  y  of  being 
known  than  that 
of  Thomas  Walker, 


some  time  editor  of 
The  Daily  News. 
Possibly  he  is  bet- 
ter known  in  America  than  here.  If  fame  depended  on  solid 
service  done,  his  fame  ought  to  be  a  wide  one  in  America.  He 
it  was  who  put  that  powerful  journal  on  our  side  in  1861,  and 
kept  it  there  through  the  long  period  of  disaster  and  discourage- 
ment which  saw  almost  every  other  London  paper  steadily  de- 
fending the  cause  of  the  Rebellion.  This  act  Mr.  Walker  did 
against  influences  which  would  have  overborne  the  judgment  of 
most  men — against  even  the  remonstrances  of  the  owners  of 
The  Daily  News,  who  feared  peril  to  their  property  from  the 
policy  it  supported.  We  can't  afford  to  forget  a  man  who  risked 
and  endured  so  much  for  us.  General  Grant  did  not  forget  it, 
I  am  glad  to  say,  but  when  Mr.  Walker  was  presented  to  him, 
greeted  him  with  a  warmth  he  does  not  always  display.      For 


/  I  >\/h>.\    /'A7-..VV. 


37 


similar  reasons  something  of  the  General's  usual  reserve  dis- 
appeared when  he  shook  hands  with  Mr.  Frank  Hill,  the  pre- 
sent editor  of  the  same  paper,  who  has  kept  it  true  to  its  old 
traditions  of  friendship  with  America.  1  have  had  to  mention 
Mr.  Frank  Hill  now  and  then — once  as  the  author  ol  that  vol 
time  of  '  Political  Portraits'  which  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  ol 
modern  contributions  to  political  literature.  I  lis  is  the  no  less 
brilliant  and  solid  paper  in  the  last  Fortnightly  on  the  Due  de 
Brogflie.  Not  far  off  sat  Mr.  Robinson,  the  manager  of  the 
same  paper,  to  whose  energy  and  -cuius  for  news-gathering  so 


ll  .11  \\\    !■  ILACE. 


much  of  its  recent  commercial  success  is  due.  Other  contribu- 
tors to  this  great  journal  were  present:  Mr.  Fraser  Rae,  whom 
you  know  in  America  as  an  excellent  writer,  and  who  has  pub- 
lished books  in  other  departments  :  Mr.  Pigott,  once  a  leader- 
writer,  now  Censor  of  Plays  in  the  Lord  Chamberlain's  Office; 
Mr.  Lucy,  who  does  its  Parliamentary  summary  every  night,  who 
wrote  the  famous  'Under  the  Clock'  series  for  The  World 
(London),  and  who  is  now  the  editor  of  a  weekly  paper  set  up 
as  a  rival  to  that,  and  known  as  May/air- — a  very  readable 
collection  of  chat,  and  of  things  better  than  chat. 


;s 


LONDON. 


"The  Times  was  represented  by  Mr.  MacDonald,  its  business 
manager  for  twenty  years,  and  news  manager  also  since  the 
death  of  Mr.  Mowbraj  Morris.  To  say  that  a  man  has  held 
such  a  position  as  that  on  the  leading  journal  of  the  world  for 
such  a  length  of  lime  is  eulogy  enough — not  that  I  mean  to 
occupy  myself  with  eulogy-making  on  him  or  anybody  else 
His  colleague,  Mr.  Stebbing,  is  a  younger  man,  whose  work 
lies  in  the  editorial  wing  of  the  paper — if  so  much  may  be  said 

without  seeking  to  pene- 
trate the  profound  mystery 
which  envelops  the  whole 
of  that  part  of  the  estab- 
lishment. Later  in  t  h  e 
evening  came  Mr.  Mac- 
don  ell,  a  Times  1  e  a  d  e  r- 
writer,  known  in  newspa- 
per circles  for  the  finish 
and  accuracy  of  his  work. 
Opposite  Mr.  Frank  Hill, 
the  editor  of  The  Daily 
News,  sat  Mr.  Frederick 
Greenwood,  the  editor  of 
The  Pall  Mall  Gaze  tie,  op- 
posed in  almost  ever)- sense 
^•Li^^.;^^  and  on    almost  every  ques- 

tion of  public  policy.  Of 
Mr.  Greenwood,  too,  I  have 
rather  lately  been  writing 
with  as  much  freedom  as  I  ought,  or  more;  and  of  him,  too,  it 
may  be  said  that  his  success  in  making  The  Tall  Mall  Gazette 
what  it  is.  is  one  of  the  conspicuous  facts  in  modern  journalism. 
Mr.  Traill,  of  the  same  paper,  is  a  man  of  letters,  a  student  of 
other  literatures  beside  English,  whose  recent  article  on  Paul 
Louis  Courier  I  hope  every  American  journalist  read.  The 
Daily  Telegraph  is  present  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Sala,  its  most 
versatile  and  popular  correspondent,  and  the  writer  of  its  social 
and    many  other   articles.      Mr.   Edward    Dicey  was   once,  ami 


RECEPTION    A  I    THE    AMERICAN    LEGATION- 


LONDON  PRESS.  ,„ 

perhaps  still  is,  a  contributor  to  that  journal,  but  is  now  editor 
in  his  own  right  of  The  Observer,  the  one  Sundaj  paper  which 
ranks  by  its  ability  and  enterprise  with  the  dailies  of  London, 
an  old  paper  to  which  Mr.  Dicey  has  brought  fresh  power  and 
talent  enough  to  give  it  of  late  years  a  more  important  position 
than  it  ever  had  before.  He,  too,  is  known  in  America  by  his 
own  services,  and  by  the  fact  of  having  married  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  accomplished  of  American  women.  Mr.  Edmund 
Yates  you  know,  also  novelist  and  journalist,  now  editor  of  I lie 
Worlds  which  was  the  first  and  is  still  the  most  widely  circu- 
lated, and  one  oi  the  most  readable  of  what  1  have  taken  the 
liberty  to  call  Boulevard  weeklies. 

"  My  catalogue  is  already  a  long  one,  but  I  dare  say  I  have 
omitted  some  names,  and  I  must  at  any  rate  include  three 
American  journalists  who  were  present:  Mr.  Conway,  of  whom 
we  are  all  proud;  .Mr.  William  Winter,  your  graceful  dra- 
matic critic,  and  Mr.  Chamberlain,  the  promising  son  of  the 
veteran  writer  who  was  so  long  Mr.  Greeley's  personal  friend 
and  political  opponent.  Among  guests  who  do  not  belong  to 
the  profession  were  the  Minister  of  the  United  States,  and  next 
to  him  Monsignor  Capel,  a  dark-faced  man  whom,  being  a  born 
Puritan,  I  set  down  as  having  the  face  of  a  |esuit  (which  I 
believe  he  is),  but  a  genial  and  cultivated  man,  renowned  in 
London  as  a  capital  talker.  Mr.  Roscoe  Conkling  attracts  gene- 
ral attention,  his  personal  gifts  and  bearing  being  at  least  as 
conspicuous  in  an  English  as  in  an  American  assembly.  Next 
General  Grant  came  Sir  Joseph  Fayrer,  an  Anglo-Indian  of 
twenty-two  years'  experience,  who  showed  perhaps  equal  cour; 
in  the  immortal  defense  of  Lucknowand  in  forbidding  the  Prince 
of  Wales  to  go  to  Madras.  A  square-faced  man  he  is.  between 
whom  and  General  Grant  there  are-  points  of  ready  sympathy, 
and  talk  goes  freely  on.  General  Badeau  sits  at  the  other  end 
ol  the  upper  table  ;  Mr.  Macmillan.  the  eminent  publisher,  and  his 
partner,  Mr.  Craik  ;  Mr.  Norman  Lockyer,  the  War-Office  clerk 
and  astronomer;  Mr.  Puleston,  M.P.  ;  Mr.  James  Payn,  Mr. 
Theodore  M.  Davis,  Mr.  f.  R.  ('.rant,  are  all  there;  and  that 
man  with   the  clear-cut   face,  whom   you  might   pick  out  as  the 


iri  LONDON. 

descendant  of  a  dozen  earls,  but  who  has  done  his  fighting  in 

person  instead  of  through  his  ancestors,  and  wears  an  empty 
sleeve,  is  General  Fairchild,  our  Consul  in  Liverpool,  and  an 
excellent  consul  he  is.  These,  you  will  agree,  are  the  mate- 
rials of  good  company  and  good  folk,  and  General  Grant's  plea- 
sure in  the  entertainment  given  him  need  surprise  nobody.  I 
might  add  a  good  deal  about  the  dinner  itself,  and  about  the 
decorations  of  the  rooms,  and  all  that  contributed  to  the  perfec- 
tion of  the  festival.  I  should  even  like  to  report  some  of  the  talk, 
were  that  a  permissible  liberty  to  take.  But  one  must  draw  the 
line  somewhere  ;  even  a  newspaper  correspondent  has  occasional 
scruples." 

On  the  3d  of  July,  General  Grant  received,  at  the  house  of 
General  Badeau,  a  deputation  composed  of  many  of  the  leading 
representatives  of  the  workingmen  of  London  and  the  provinces. 
This  deputation  represented  the  engineers,  iron  founders,  miners, 
and  various  classes  of  industry.  In  introducing  it,  Mr.  Broad- 
hurst,  Secretary  of  the  Workingmen's  League,  said  that  those 
who  sent  the  address  of  welcome  to  General  Grant  represented 
the  most  important  laboring  towns.  While  they  differed  on 
various  social  and  political  points,  they  all  agreed  in  their  admi- 
ration of  the  Ex-President,  and  their  grateful  remembrance  of 
the  part  taken  by  the  General's  administration  in  securing  the 
representation  of  industry  on  the  American  Commission  of  the 
Vienna  Exhibition.  The  address  was  handsomely  engrossed  on 
vellum,  and  was  read  by  Mr.  Guile,  of  the  Iron  Founders' 
Society.     General  Grant  in  response  said  : 

"Gentlemen  :  In  the  name  of  my  country  I  thank  you  for  the  address  you 
have  just  presented  to  me.  I  feel  it  a  great  compliment  paid  to  my  Govern- 
ment, to  the  former  Government,  and  one  to  me  personally.  Since  my  arrival 
on  British  soil  I  have  received  great  attentions,  and,  as  I  feel,  intended  in 
the  same  way  for  my  country.  I  have  received  attentions  and  have  had  ova- 
tions, free  hand-shakings,  and  presentations  from  different  classes,  and  from 
the  Government,  and  from  the  controlling  authorities  of  cities,  and  have  been 
received  in  the  cities  by  the  populace.  But  there  is  no  reception  I  am  prouder 
of  than  this  one  to-day.  I  recognize  the  fact  that  whatever  there  is  of  great- 
ness in  the  United  States,  or  indeed  in  any  other  country,  is  due  to  the  labor 
performed.     The  laborer  is  the  author  of  all  greatness  and  wealth.     Without 


I  NITED   SER\  h  E   i  LI  B. 


41 


labor  there  would  be  no  government,  or  no  leading  class,  or  nothing  to  preserve. 
With  us  labor  is  regarded  as  highly  respectable.     When  it  is  not  so  regarded  il 

is  that  man  dishonors  labor.  We  recognize  that  labor  dishonors  no  man  ;  and 
no  matter  what  a  man's  occupation  is  he  is  eligible  to  fill  any  post  111  the  gifl  ol 
the  people.  His  occupation  is  not  considered  in  the  selection  of  him,  whether 
as  a  lawmaker  or  an  executor  of  the  law.  Now,  gentlemen,  in  conclusion,  all 
1  can  do  is  to  renew  my  thanks  to  you  for  the  address,  and  to  repeat  what  I 
have  said  before,  that  I  have  received  nothing  from  any  class  since  my  arrival 
on  this  soil  which  has  given  me  more  pleasure." 


A 


free  hand-shaking ' 


with  General  Grant  on  the  part  of  all 


. .  c , . 


1  ■  -""t 

1  jlK'V  I 


ST.  PAUL'S  (   \  1  in  JDR  \i  . 


the  forty  members  of  the  deputation    followed,  and  they  then 
withdrew. 

In  the  evening  the  General  dined  at  the  United  Service 
Club,  to  meet  a  large  number  of  officers  of  the  army  and  navy. 
The  Duke  of  Cambridge  presided.  Among  those  present  w 
the  Admiral  of  the  Fleet,  Sir  George  Sartorius,  who  was  a  mid- 
shipman in  the  vessel  which  Nelson  commanded  at  Trafalgar  in 
1805.      This  dinner  was   essentially  private,  but   it  afforded  the 


.„  LONDON. 

General  great  pleasure  to  meet  so  many  distinguished  officers 
of  the  British  army  and  navy. 

(  >n    the    4th   of    July   then-    was  a   reception    at    the  Ameri- 
can  Embassy.     In   the  evening  a  private  dinner  was  given  by 
Mr.  Pierrepont  to  the  following  gentlemen:   Senator  Conkling, 
Governor    Hendricks,  Judge  W'allis,  the   Rev.    Phillips    Brooks 
of    Boston,    Chancellor    Remsen    of   New    Jersey,    Monsignor 
Capel,   Mr.  Hopping,   G.  W.  Smalley,  J.  R.   Grant,   and  J.  R. 
Young.     This  was  the  General's  last  dinner  in   London  previ- 
ous to  his  departure  to  the  Continent.      Perhaps  I  cannot  better 
close   this  chapter  than    by  repeating  the  observations  of  Mr. 
Smalley  in  his  letter  to  The  Tribune:    "  The  Fourth  of  July  was 
observed    in   London  at  the   Legation,  and  so   far  as  I    know 
at  the  Legation  only.     The  papers  announced  that  the  Minis- 
ter   of  the   United  States  and   Mrs.    Pierrepont   would  receive 
Americans  from  four  to  seven  in  the  afternoon,  General  Grant 
and    Mrs.    Grant    to    be    present.     The    Americans    presented 
themselves  in  large   numbers.      It  is  the  season  when  a  good 
many  of  our  countrymen  are  in   London,  on   their  way  to  the 
Continent,  and  not  a  few  such   birds  of  passage  thronged  the 
rooms  of  the  Legation  yesterday  afternoon.     Of  resident  Ameri- 
cans there  were  also  man)- — so  many  that  I  won't  undertake  to 
repeat  their   names.      And   there  was   a   pretty  large   sidewalk 
committee  outside,  attracted  by  the  American  flag  which  floated 
over  the  doorway,  and  by  the  carriages  setting  down   company 
— the  latter  always  a  favorite  sight  with   the  poor  devils  who 
spend  their  days  in   the  street.      Whether  because   it  was   the 
great  Saint's  Day   of  America,   or  of  any  other  equally  good 
reason,  a  vast  deal  of  what  is  called  good  feeling  is  shown — a 
degree    of  cordiality   in   the  greetings  between   acquaintances 
greater  than  might  be  expected  when   you  consider  that  these 
same  people  live  three-fourths  of  the  year  or  more  in  the  same 
town   and  within   a  few  miles  of  each  other,  but  are  seldom  on 
intimate   terms.     There  are  no  dissensions  to  speak  of  among 
Americans  here  (though  there  have  been),  but  neither  is  there 
much  gregariousness.      Patriotism  got  the  upper  hand  yester- 
day, however.     The  lion  and  the  lamb  took  tea  together — nay, 


AMERICAN  LEGATION. 


43 


dined  together  later.  Pretty  girls  abounded.  The  American 
girl  is  always  pretty,  or,  at  least,  always  expected  by  the  Briton 
to  be  pretty.  The  Briton  was  not  there  yesterday  to  see  how 
many  of  them  there  were.  California  contributed  its  quota; 
Boston  and  New  York  were  not  unrepresented  ;  Baltimore  sent 
a  belle  or  two,  and  there  were  ladies  no  longer  to  be  called  girls 
who  might  have  disputed  with  the  best  of  their  younger  sisters 
for  the  palm  of  beauty.  I  think  1  noticed  in  my  fellow  citizens 
a  slight  uncertainty  as  to  the  sort  of  costume  that  ought  to  be 


OJ      '•::.. 


worn  on  so  solemn  an  occasion.  The  white  tie  was  prematurely 
seen — it  was  only  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  your  true 
Englishman  never  wears  it  before  dinner,  and  dinner  is  never 
before  eight — and  some  dress  coats  covered  the  manly  form. 
I  don't  think  I  saw  any  ladies  without  bonnets.  General  Grant 
arrived  a  little  late,  and  till  he  came  nobody  went  away,  so  that 
the  crush  in  Mr.  Pierrepont's  spacious  room,  was  for  some  time 
considerable.  General  and  Mrs.  Grant  held  a  levee  whether 
they  would  or  no  ;  their  admiring  and  eager  countrymen  and 
countrywomen  swarmed  about  them.      Once  more  the   General 


44  LONDON. 

might  have  fancied  himself  in  the  White  House,  judging  by  the 
severity  of  the  '  free  hand-shakings  '  he  underwent.  Not  a  man 
or  a  woman  of  those  who  gathered  about  spared  him,  nor  did  he 
flinch ;  but  we  dare  say  he:  reflected  with  pleasure  that  he  was 
going  to  countries  where  hand-shaking  is  much  less  in  fashion 
than  here  or  at  home. 

"Last  of  all,  the  General  dined,  on  the  evening  of  the  4th, 
at  the  Legation  of  the  United  States.  The  occasion  was  not 
made  a  very  ceremonious  one;  with  a  single  exception,  only 
Americans  were  put  on  guard  that  night.  The  exception  was 
Monsignor  Capel.  The  dinner  was  so  far  informal  and  private 
that  I  hardly  know  whether  I  am  right  in  saying  anything  about 
it.  Most  of  the  distinguished  Americans  known  to  be  passing 
through  London  were  invited,  and  were  present.  The  list 
included  Senator  Conkling,  Governor  Hendricks,  Judge  Wal- 
lis  of  the  United  States  District  Court — the  same  who  lately 
tried  the  Emma  Mine  case — the  Rev.  Phillips  Brooks  of  Boston, 
and  Chancellor  Remsen  of  New  Jersey.  Mrs.  Grant  and  Mrs. 
Pierrepont  were  the  only  ladies  present.  The  evening  was  a  very 
pleasant  one,  and  was  greatly  enjoyed  by  all.  As  the  General 
proposed  starting  next  day  for  a  short  run  to  the  Continent,  the 
guests  departed  at  an  early  hour,  wishing  the  party  a  pleasant 
trip  through  Belgium  and  Switzerland." 


■z 
w 
w 

o 

w 

X 
H 

>■ 

CO 

& 

O 
en 
P 


f-c 

•< 

O 

H 
0< 

w 
u 

w 


CHAPTER    III. 


A    RUN    TO    THE    CONTINENT. 


^\  f- ~':W ^EN  General  Grant  returned  from  his  visit  to  Liver- 
[ ..•/'  pool,  he  found  the  summer  days  in  London,  the 
season  dead,  and  everybody  out  of  town.  He  con- 
sequently postponed  his  visit  to  Scotland  and  the 
North  of  England  until  he  had  made  a  short  trip  on  the  Conti- 
nent. As  most  of  the  countries  visited  by  General  Grant  dur- 
ing this  journey  will  be  referred  to  in  other  parts  of  this  book, 
I  shall  confine  this  chapter  to  noting  the  incidents  of  the  journey, 
so  far  as  they  affected  General  Grant  personally,  and  showed  a 
disposition  on  the  part  of  foreign  countries  and  American  citi- 
zens abroad  to  do  him  honor.  To  recount  in  detail  every  cere- 
mony and  festivity  which  awaited  the  General  around  the  world 
would  be  to  write  five  volumes  instead  of  one.  While  I  am 
tempted  therefore  to  dwell  upon  beautiful  scenery,  social  as- 
pects, industry  and  commerce,  and  any  feature  of  interest  con- 
nected with  the  people  through  whose  countries  the  General 
made  his  rapid  journey,  it  must  suffice  for  the  present  to  note 

45 


40 


.  /    RUN    TO   THE    t  OA  TINENT. 


the  leading  incidents  of  the  trip,  and  leave  mere  speculations 
to  the  other  parts  of  the  volume. 

On  the  5th  of  July,  the  morning  after  our  dinner  at  the 
American  Minister's  in  London,  General  Grant,  accompanied 
by  Mrs.  Grant,  his  sun,  and  General  Badeau,  left  London  for 
(  )stend.  ( )n  arriving  at  Ostend,  an  officer  of  the  King's  house- 
hold waited  on  the  General,  and  tendered  him  the  use  of  the 
royal  car  to  Brussels.  The  municipal  and  military  authorities 
met  the  General  on  landing  with  an  address  of  congratulation. 
Mr.  D.  S.  Merrill,  the  son  of  the  American  Minister  at  Brussels, 
waited  upon  the  General,  and  next  morning  the  party  left  Os- 
tend for  the  Belgian  capi- 
tal. They  stopped  on  the 
route  at  the  ancient  city  of 
Ghent,  where,  accompanied 
by  the  American  Consul, 
the  principal  bridges  and 
places  of  interest  of  that 
quaint  and  venerable  city 
were  examined.  On  Fri- 
day evening  at  six  o'clock 
they  arrived  at  Brussels. 
The  General  paid  a  visit 
to  the  Minister,  the  Hon. 
A.  P.  Merrill,  whose  illness 
confined  him  to  his  house. 
At  noon,  they  visited  the 
Hotel  de  Ville,  and  were 
shown  by  the  authorities 
all  the  interesting  objects 
For  generations  past  famous  visi- 
tors to  the  Hotel  de  Ville  have  written  their  names  in  a  book 
called  the  Livre  if  Or.  The  General  was  requested  to  add  his 
autograph  to  the  scroll  of  illustrious  men.  In  the  evening  the 
General  dined  with  Mr.  Sandforcl,  formerly  Minister  at  Brus- 
sels, and  now  resident  in  that  city.  On  the  7th  of  July,  King 
Leopold  of  Belgium,  accompanied  by  Madame  de  Winkersloot, 


1  1   I  1  ii\KIS    GHENT. 


in   that  memorable  edifice. 


MUSSELS. 


47 


called  on  General  Grant  at  his  hotel,  and  had  a  long  con- 
versation with  him.  This  visit  was  returned  by  General  Grant 
at  the  palace  on  Monday  evening,  the  8th  of  July.  On  that 
evening  the  King  gave  a  banquet  in  honor  of  his  guest,  and  be- 
fore the  time  for  the  guests  assembling,  the  General  and  Mrs. 
Grant  returned  the  call  of  his  majesty,  who  entered  into  a  long 
conversation.  The  King  of  Belgium  is  a  man  ol  more  than 
ordinary  gifts,  and  he  impressed  the  Fx-President  with  his 
knowledge,  industry,  and  his  desire  to  strengthen  his  kingdom. 
The  King  seemed  to  be  familiar  with  American  affairs,  and  the 
subject  that  interested  him  most  particularly,  in  his  conversation 
with  General  Grant,  was  the  establishment  of  lines  of  ships 
between  Antwerp  and  American  ports.  The  General  was 
attended  by  the  family  of  the  Minister,  Mr.  Merrill,  by  General 
and  Mrs.  Sandford,  General  Badeau,  and  dignitaries  of  the 
court. 

On  Monday  morning,  July  9th,  General  Grant  left  Brussels 
for  Cologne,  having  formed  not  only  a  high  opinion  of  the 
character  and  intellect  of  the  sovereign  of  Belgium,  but  a  per- 
sonal friendship.  The  journey  to  Cologne  was  performed  in 
the  King's  railway  carriage.  On  his  arrival  in  the  city,  the  civil 
and  military  governors  called  upon  him.  He  visited  the  cathe- 
dral, crossed  the  bridges,  and  made  the  famous  tour  of  the 
Rhine  as  far  as  Coblentz.  On  the  nth  of  July  the  General 
visited  Wiesbaden,  and  on  the  12th  was  in  Frankfort,  where 
the  American  citizens  had  arranged  a  fete  and  dinner.  General 
Grant  was  met  by  a  committee  of  ten  gentlemen,  and  was 
escorted  to  the  Hotel  de  Russie.  At  six  o'clock  in  the  evening 
there  was  a  dinner  in  the  famous  Palmer  Garten,  at  which  a 
hundred  and  fifty  gentlemen  were  present.  Frankfort  is  closely 
connected  with  the  United  States  by  commercial  and  financial 
ties,  and  some  of  her  most  distinguished  citizens  have  made  their 
fortunes  out  of  the  American  trade.  At  the  conclusion  of  the 
dinner,  the  General  strolled  round  the  gardens,  making  his  way 
with  difficulty  through  the  multitude,  which  numbered  as  many 
as  ten  thousand,  assembled  there  to  see  him.  On  Friday  after- 
noon, July  1  3th.  the  General  and  his  party  drove  to  Homburg-les- 


48 


./    RUN   70    THE   CONTINENT. 


Bains,  where  he  was  met  by  a  committee  of  Americans,  headed 
by  Ex-Governor  Ward  of  New  Jersey.  From  Homburg  he 
drove  to  Salburg  to  visit  the  famous  Roman  camp,  This 
camp  is  the  most  extensive  Roman  memorial  in  Germany,  and 
covers  seven  hundred  acres.  It  is  under  the  especial  care  of 
the  Prussian  Government,  and  while  they  were  there  Professor 
Jacobi  and  Captain  Frischer,  who  have  charge  of  it,  opened 
one  of  the  graves.  It  was  found  filled  with  the  ashes  of  a  Ro- 
man  soldier  who  had  been  dead  more  than  eighteen  centuries. 
( >f  these  burial  mounds  more  than  two  hundred  have  been 
opened  during  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  since  the  camp 
was  first  discovered.  In  the  evening  there  was  a  dinner  at 
Homburg,  during  which  the  band  of  the  Grand  Duke  of 
Darmstadt  played.  After  dinner  there  was  a  walk  in  the  glori- 
ous gardens  of  the  Kursaal.  The  gardens  were  illuminated, 
and  the  effect  of  the  light  on  the  fountains  was  exceedingly 
beautiful.  At  eleven  o'clock  the  General  returned  to  Frank- 
fort. The  next  day  he  visited  some  of  the  famous  wine-cellars, 
and  then  attended  a  dinner  at  the  Zoological  Gardens.  On 
Sunday  morning,  July  15th,  the  General  left  for  Heidelberg, 

From  Heidelberg  there  was  the  usual  tour  to  Baden  and  the 
Black  Forest.  The  General  and  his  party  visited  Lucerne, 
Interlaken,  and  Berne.  The  latter  place  was  visited  on  the 
24th.  At  all  these  points  the  people  took  special  pains  to  do 
the  General  honor.  On  the  26th  of  July,  General  Grant  and 
his  party  arrived  in  Geneva.  The  principal  incident  of  his 
visit  to  Geneva  was  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  a  new 
American  Episcopal  church  on  Friday,  the  27th  of  July.  This 
church  is  built  on  the  Rue  des  Voirons,  on  a  site  given  to  the 
congregation  by  Mr.  Barbay,  an  American  citizen  resident  in 
Geneva.  The  style  of  architecture  is  simple  and  chaste.  The 
American  colony  assembled  at  the  Hotel  Beau  Rivage  and  a 
procession  was  formed,  at  the  head  of  which  marched  the 
American  chaplain,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Parkes,  accompanied  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Green,  who  assisted  as  the  representative  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Jephson,  the  chaplain  of  the  English  church.  Many  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town  were  present.      There  were,  likewise, 


SWITZERLAND. 


49 


delegates  from  the  State  Council,  and  other  local  bodies.  There 
was  prayer  with  music  and  an  address  by  Mr.  Parkes.  I  In- 
General  then  descended  from  the  platform,  and  after  a  box 
containing  American  and  various  other  coins  and  copies  of 
Swiss  and  English  papers  had  been  placed  under  the  founda- 
tion, the  General  struck  the  stone  with  the  hammer,  ornamented 
with  the  American  colors,  and  declared  the  stone  "well  laid  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and    Holy  Ghost."      Mr.  Parkes 


p  ^iigpijil 


HOTEL   DE    YILl.i:,    CI  I  V 


\K¥,    BRUSSELS. 


thanked  the  assembly  in  the  name  of  General  Grant  for  the 
gathering  and  welcome.  M.  Carteret,  Vice-President  of  the 
Council  of  State,  in  the  name  of  the  Canton  expressed  the 
satisfaction  he  felt  at  the  laying  of  the  foundation  stone  of  an 
American  church  in  Geneva,  which,  he  said,  was  not  only  a 
proof  of  the  growing  importance  of  the  American  colony  in 
Geneva,  but  evidence  of  the  liberty  accorded  by  Switzerland  to 
all  religious  creeds.  M.  Levrier  and  Pastor  faquet  also  de- 
livered addresses.  At  half-past  twelve  there  was  a  d&jeuner  at 
the  Hotel  de  la  Pays,  Mr.  Parkes  presiding.  He  welcomed 
4 


5° 


./   RUN    TO    THE   CONTINENT. 


'•' 


General  (-rant  to  Geneva,  and  the  General  replied,  thanking 
his  friends  for  the  welcome  accorded  to  him.  He  had,  he 
said,  never  felt  himself  more  happy.  "  I  have  never  felt  myself 
more  happy  than  among  this  assembly  of  fellow  republicans  of 
America  and  Switzerland.  1  have  long  had  a  desire  to  visit 
the  city  when-  the  Alabama  Claims  were  settled  by  arbitration 
without  the  effusion  of  blood,  and  where  the  principle  of  in- 
ternational arbitration  was  established,  which  I  hope  will  be 
resorted  to  by  other  nations  and  be  the  means  of  continu- 
ing peace  to  all  mankind." 
The  ceremony' in  Geneva 
was  the  most  important  in- 
cident in  General  Grant's 
tour  in  Switzerland. 
There  was  a  visit  to  Mont 
Blanc,  which  was  illumi- 
nated in  honor  of  the  Gene- 
ral's trip,  and  the  wonder- 
ful scenes  of  that  glorious 
Alpine  range  were  studied. 
The  General  then  crossed 
the  Simplon  Pass,  made  a 
tour  of  the  northern  part 
of  Italy,  and  returned  by 
the  14th  of  August  to  Ra- 
gatz, where  he  spent  some 
days  in  the  enjoyment  of 
the  baths.  From  Ragatz 
he  visited  the  interesting 
country — interesting  because  of  the  events  of  the  recent  war — 
of  Alsace  and  Lorraine. 

It  was  on  the  return  to  England,  where  in  easy  stages  the 
General  came  from  Alpine  rambles — Italian  lakes,  and  pleasant 
restful  days  in  Ragatz — that  a  visit  was  made  to  Alsace  and 
Lorraine.  There  is,  perhaps,  no  spot  in  Europe  around  which 
associate  so  many  fresh  memories  of  conquest  and  humiliation 
as  Alsace  and  Lorraine.     It  was  not  my  fortune  to  accompany 


MEETING    WITH  "KING   LEOPOLD. 


ALSACE.  -, 

General  Grant  on  this  part  of  his  journey.  I  had,  how<  ver,  made 
a  tour  of  the  provinces  some  time  before  his  coming,  and  my 
notes  of  that  journey,  considering  the  transcendent  importance 
of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  in  the  politics  of  Europe,  may  be  worth 
reading  now.  The  occasion  of  the  writer's  visit  was  the  French 
exodus  from  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  when  the  Prussian  Govern- 
ment compelled  all  residents  to  take  the  option  of  becoming 
citizens  of  Germany  or  emigrating  to  France. 

Take  an  old  map  of  France  and  look  at  what  might  be  called 
the  right  shoulder  of  the  map,  and  you  will  find  a  strip  of  land 
about  as  large  apparently,  in  comparison  with  France,  as  New 
Hampshire  is  to  our  country,  and  not  unlike  it  in  shape,  stretch- 
ing from  Luxembourg  and  the  Belgian  frontier  down  to  Swit- 
zerland, bulging  out  on  the  line  toward  Paris  so  as  to  include 
Metz,  and  tapering  almost  to  a  point  near  Switzerland,  so  as  to 
exclude  Belfort.  This  irregular  patch,  looking  like  an  inverted 
Indian  club,  includes  the  province  of  Alsace  and  a  great  part  of 
what  is  called  Lorraine,  and  is  now,  perhaps,  the  most  famous 
strip  of  ground  in  the  world;  for  the  eyes  of  the  world  are 
looking  here,  amazed  at  certain  phenomena  and  historical  trans- 
actions, and  trying  to  solve  their  meaning  As  you  know,  it  is 
now  a  disputed  land.  It  has  been  in  dispute  for  twenty  cen- 
turies, and  its  fertile  soil  has  been  enriched  with  the  blood  of 
generations  of  slain  men,  from  the  time  of  Caesar  to  Wilhelm 
of  Prussia.  Thirteen  hundred  years  ago  Clovis  conquered  it, 
and  although  Charlemagne  was  a  benefactor,  the  wars  that  came 
with  his  successors  channeled  and  furrowed  its  fair  fields.  The 
Hungarians  went  through  it  with  fire  and  sword,  and  it  suffered 
under  the  religious  wars  which  swept  over  Europe  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  the  Swedes  "  honoring  God "  in  the  most  ex- 
travagant and  bloodthirsty  manner.  Then  Louis  XIV. — about 
1690 — took  it.  The  Germans  came  to  retake  it,  but  were  de- 
feated by  Turenne.  Again  they  made  the  effort,  but  the  great 
Conde  drove  them  over  the  Rhine.  That  ended  German  effort 
for  nearly  two  hundred  years,  and  Alsace  rested  at  peace  under 
the  French  rulers  until  Sedan  undid  the  work  of  Conde  and 
Turenne,  and  France,  with  Prussian  cannon  at  her  gates,  sur- 
rendered it  to  Prussia. 


5'' 


A    RUN  TO    THE  CONTINENT. 


In  extent  this  dismembered  shoulder  of  France  is  about  five 
thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty  English  square  miles — not 
more  than  three  per  cent  of  the  total  area  of  France  ;  in 
population  about  one  million  six  hundred  thousand  souls,  or 
marl)-  five  per  cent,  of  the  total  population.  You  will  see, 
therefore,  that  the  rate  of  population  exceeds  the  average 
of  the  country.  It  has  a  fine  canal  system  and  many  forests  of 
pine  and  oak.  There  are  quarries  and  coal  mines,  iron  and 
stone  deposits,  lead  and  copper,  in  limited  quantities.  In  the 
earlier  times  there  were  gold  and  silver,  but  not  enough  to  ex- 
cite any  one  in  these  Cali- 
fornian  days.  In  the  South- 
ern Department  of  Alsace 
there  are  46,000  acres  given 
to  the  vine,  which  pro- 
duced at  the  last  enume- 
ration 30,000,000  gallons  of 
wine.  In  the  Northern  De- 
partment there  are  about 
28,000  acres  in  vines,  yield- 
ing 12,000,000  gallons  of 
wine.  You  may  know  how 
generally  the  land  is  di- 
vided (thanks  to  the  Revo- 
lution) when  you  are  told 
that  these  28,000  acres  are 
owned  by  36,000  proprie- 
tors !  The  total  revenue 
from  cattle  and  stock  raising 

COLOGNE.  ■  •  ^i  ,  . 

in  the  year  last  on  record 
was  18,000,000  American  dollars,  while  from  agriculture  the 
return  showed  28,000,000  dollars — one  half  from  cereals.  It 
might  be  called  a  land  of  milk  and  honey,  remembering  that 
there  are  in  this  province  alone  25,000  beehives,  whose  industry 
is  not  interrupted,  I  take  it,  by  any  questions  of  authority  or 
annexation.  An  ancient  record  notes  that  the  people,  as 
became  honest  farmers,  were  of  a  cheerful  temper  and  much 


'RAINE.  -, 

given  to  dancing  and  fiddling.  Among  other  points  note  that 
the  population  is  little  more  than  twice  as  large  as  it  was  in 
1800,  and  that  if  all  France  had  kept  growing  with  the  same 
pace  it  would  now  be  about  55,000,000  instead  of  nearly 
37,000,000  that  the  books  have  written  down. 

This  briefly  is  the  extent,  appearance,  character,  and  wealth 
of  that  Alsace-Lorraine  which  France  gave  to  Germany  by  a 
treaty  signed  with  the  Prussian  sword  at  her  heart.  The  two 
columns  upon  which  the  province  rests  arc  the  cities  of  Stras- 
burg  and  Metz. 

The  city  of  Metz  in  its  brightest  days  must  have  been  an  un- 
lucky town,  smothered  over  with  forts  and  ditches  and  all  the 
elaborate  mechanism  of  engineering  art.  The;  great  Vauban 
accomplished  these  results  in  Louis  XIV.'s  days,  when  that 
k i n lT  was  doing;  a  little  roval  stealing  on  his  own  account,  and 
was  anxious  to  protect  his  acquisition.  Within  a  few  miles  of 
its  gates  the  great  battle  of  Gravelotte  was  fought,  where 
Prussia  burst  the  French  army  asunder,  driving  one  fragment, 
under  Bazaine,  into  Metz,  to  starvation  and  surrender  ;  tin; 
other  fragment,  under  MacMahon,  up  into  Sedan,  to  surrender 
with  its  Emperor  at  the  head.  Gravelotte  looks  very  calm  and 
fruitful  this  autumn  morning,  and  shows  no  trace  of  the  gigan- 
tic strife  of  two  years  ago.  The  fields  are  giving  forth  corn 
and  hops  and  vines,  and  the  merry  laugh  of  the  harvesters  is 
heard  where  the  cannon  sounded  upon  that  dreadful  day.  As 
the  writer  passed  down  the  road  along  which  the  King  of  Prus- 
sia advanced,  looking  out  over  the  rolling,  hilly  plain,  there 
came  a  group  which  would  have  been  made  into  a  picture  by 
the  pencil  of  Teniers.  A  donkey,  with  a  ribbon  or  two  around 
his  neck  by  way  of  encouragement,  was  doggedly  pullin 
small,  rude  cart.  This  was  heaped  with  baskets  of  -rapes.  In 
one  corner,  cunningly  protected  from  self-destruction  by  an  in- 
genious arrangement  of  baskets,  was  a  wide-eyed  infant,  just 
old  enough  to  stand,  not  knowing  what  the  demonstrations 
meant,  and  its  eyes  firmly  Uxvd  on  its  mother,  who  came  plod- 
ding behind,  clapping  her  hands  and  chanting  nursery  rhymes. 
An   old   man,  with   his   staff,    marshaled  the   group   with  grave 


54 


A  Rl  A     TO    THE    CONTINENT. 


aspect,  thinking,  no  doubt,  of  sadder  things  than  grapes  and 
wine.  Then  came  a  straggling  procession  of  boys  and  girls— 
the  boys  from  twelve  to  five — with  ruddy,  dirty  faces,  smeared 
with  grape-juice.  They  were  shouting,  laughing,  hurrying 
home  to  evening  rest  with  their  harvest  burdens.  The  young 
men  had  gone.  The  head  of  the  family  had  gone.  The  vin- 
tage  could    only  be   gathered   by  women   and    children.      The 

old  men  and  the 
children  only  re- 
mained. This  was 
a  first  glimpse  of 
the  new  aspect  of 
affairs  in  Alsace 
and  Lorraine,  and 
it  seemed  odd  that 
this  trophy  of  Ger- 
man rule  should 
make  itself  mani- 
fest on  the  victori- 
ous field  of  Grave- 
lotte.  Now  and 
then  we  met  a 
group  of  eager,  striding  youths  marching  toward  the  frontier 
or  to  some  railway  station — youths  and  middle-aged  men,  oc- 
casionally women  in  the  train  with  children  in  their  arms, 
anxious  for  France,  and  we  thought  of  what  Byron  wrote  of 
those  wanderers  of  Israel  when  they  were  driven  out  of  the 
Holy  Land  : 

"  And  we  must  wander,  witheringly, 
In  other  lands  to  die — 
And  where  our  fathers'  ashes  be 
Our  own  can  never  lie." 

Metz  could  never  at  best  have  been  a  lovely  town,  and  it  is 
to-day  a  picture  of  shabbiness  and  despair.  In  other  days  it 
lived  on  its  garrison.  It  had  military  schools,  and  a  large,  if 
not  a  pleasing,  variety  of  peddlers  and  sutlers  and  tradesmen 
of  many  nations.      Many  were  Hebrews,  who  were  the  first  to 


ON   THE    RHINE. 


ALSACE  AND  LORRALXE.  -- 

go,  for  the  exodus  began  shortly  after  the  German  occupation. 
Tlie  Germans  patronized  their  own  people,  and  had  no  occa- 
sion for  French  sutlers  and  peddlers  from  the  <  >rient.  When 
the  period  came  for  decision  between  France  and  Prussia,  Metz 
gave  way  in  a  panic,  and  thousands  swarmed  out  ol  its  gafc  . 
At  least  two  thirds  of  the  inhabitants  have  gone,  and  Metz 
looks  as  if  smitten  with  a  pestilence — a  sort  of  a  city  laid  out 
in  state  for  funeral,  and  a  Prussian  army  as  guard  of  honor 
over  the  remains.  In  addition  to  the  ordinary  passenger  trains 
running  to  Nancy  during  the  last  few  days  of  September,  five 
extra  trains  left  the  city  daily  with  emigrating  inhabitants. 
The  scenes  in  the  railway  depot  showed  all  the  crowding 
anxiety  and  disturbance  of  Lord  Mayor's  Day  in  London, 
or  a  Fourth-of-July  fireworks  in  City  Hall  Park.  A  railway 
officer  informed  the  writer  that  on  one  da)-  five  thousand  left 
from  his  depot  alone.  They  have  swept  over  the  country  to 
Nancy,  Luneville,  Commercy,  Lyons — some  to  Rheims  and 
Epernay  to  find  work  in  the  champagne  harvest — many  to 
Paris.  In  cities  where  the  Prussians  were  in  occupation 
they  would  not  permit  the  exiles  to  remain,  especially  the 
young  men  fit  for  duty  in  the  army,  but  drove  them  on 
beyond  their  lines.  With  these  the)'  were  always  severe. 
P>ut  the  young  men,  upon  accepting  the  option  for  Ger- 
many, would  be  compelled  to  enter  the-  Prussian  army.  s" 
they  left  for  France.  In  one  commune  where  there  were 
seventeen  young  men,  only  two  remained  ;  of  these  two,  one 
was  ill,  the  other  had  no  means  of  leaving.  The  same  state 
of  affairs  existed  everywhere  else,  except,  perhaps,  in  a  few 
communes  near  the  Rhine.  It  is  estimated  that  from  thirty 
communes  alone  the  number  who  left  amounted  to  fifty  thou- 
sand. 

One  circumstance  that  fills  the  Prussian  mind  with  anger  is 
that  most  of  those  who  have  left  Metz,  especially  from  the  farm 
lands  around,  have  been  in  receipt  of  large  sums  of  money 
from  the  Prussian  treasury.  The  war,  Gravelotte,  and  other 
transactions  of  that  nature,  desolated  the  country  and  swept 
away  all  living  things — crops  and  grain  and  homesteads  and  all 


56 


A    ATX    TO    THE   CONTINENT. 


means  of  life.  And  Prussia,  meaning  to  be  kind  to  the  suf- 
ferers and  reconcile  them  to  the  new  rule,  paid  them  large 
indemnities.  In  some  cases  more  money  was  paid  than  the 
farmer  had  ever  seen  before  ;  more  than  his  whole  farm  was 
worth.  These  simple-minded  agriculturists  took  the  honest 
king's  money  and  immediately  declared  for  France.  The 
thought,  therefore,  that  Prussia  is  really  paying  the  expenses 
of  a  good  part  of  the  emigration,  that  the  ungrateful  French- 
men are  really  crossing  into  France  with  the  king's  money  in 
their  pockets,  gives  the  Pickelhaubers  deep  anger,  and  may  ac- 
count for  their  rudeness  to  the  exiles.  "  They  take  the  Kaiser's 
money,"  says  Pickelhauber  ruefully,  "and  then  run  away." 
"  Yes,"  says  the  Frenchman  ;  "why  don't  you  let  us  stay?  We 
want  to  stay  and  be  Frenchmen.  Look  at  Paris.  All  the 
Germans  who  left  there  during  the  war  to  fight  France,  are  re- 
turning, and  we  don't  say  either  be  Frenchmen  or  leave  Paris. 
They  stay  and  become  rich  ;  and  yet  we  are  not  allowed  to  re- 
main here  where  we  were  born  without  telling  a  lie  and  saying 
we  are  Germans.  How  is  that  ?  "  "  Oh,  that,"  says  Pickelhau- 
ber, "  is  quite  a  different  matter." 

From  this  unlovely  military  town  of  Metz,  which  must  hence- 
forth be  a  garrison,  we  sweep  down  to  Mulhouse,  the  Lowell 
or  Manchester  of  Alsace,  close  to  the  Swiss  frontier,  the  largest 
town  in  Alsace  after  Strasbourg — not  an  old  town,  as  towns 
go  in  these  countries,  but  of  sudden  growth,  like  all  manu- 
facturing centers.  In  1800  it  had  6,000  inhabitants.  At  the 
time  of  the  war  there  were  50,000,  a  proportion  of  increase  that 
you  see  in  few  towns  in  Europe.  This  is  the  center  of  the  cot- 
ton industry  ;  around  it  is  a  beehive  of  towns  as  industrious 
and  enterprising  as  Lowell  and  Lawrence  and  Lynn.  You  can 
fancy  how  much  it  has  grown  when  you  know  that  thirty  years 
ago  there  were  200,000  spindles,  reaching  1,000,000  in  1862, 
and  2,000,000  when  the  war  came — 2,000,000  of  spindles  and 
40,000  looms  !  Our  lady  readers  have,  no  doubt,  heard  of  the 
calico  and  jaconet  of  Alsace,  its  beauty  and  usefulness.  There 
are  forty  manufactories  which  do  this  work,  making  annually 
50,000,000  yards,  valued  at  $12,000,000.      Here  also  are   the 


MULHOUSE. 


57 


model   factories   of  the   world,  proprietors  renowned  for  their 

efforts  to  insure  the  comfort  and  efficiency  of  their  employes. 
Yox  in  addition  to  cotton  there  are  manufactories  ot  porcelain 
and  paper,  and  other  useful  articles.  Well,  annexation  has 
fallen  like  a  blight  upon  it  all.  Many  mills  arc  closed  for  the 
want  of  skilled  workmen;  others  are  being  removed  to  Paris; 
still  more  to  Switzerland,  where  convenient  water  streams  nun  1  n  ■ 
had — proprietors,  manufacturers,  and  families,  with  their  money 
and    machinery   and    business,  crossing   the    frontier ;  and   this 


N     THE    MAIN. 


may  be  said  of  Colmar,  the  next  city  in  importance,  peopled 
with  35,000  souls — called,  for  some  reason  I  know  not,  "  The 
Athens  of  Alsace" — a  quiet,  old-fashioned  place,  where  pen- 
sioners and  retired  heroes  live.  The  young  men  have  fled  : 
nor  do  they  fly  with  pleasant  thoughts.  A  lady  born  in  Carls- 
ruhe,  wife  of  a  Colmar  exile,  was  sitting  this  morning  at  the 
tabic  d'hote  in  Nancy.  "Ah,"  said  an  acquaintance,  "have  you 
been  in  Baden  lately?"  "What  do  you  take  me  for?"  was 
the  angry  reply.  "  I  never  want  to  see  those  brutes  again  ! 
This  my  son,  now  fifteen,  must  one  day  revenge  the  wrongs  of 
France,  and  I  mean  to   make  him  a  military  man."      But  this, 


58 


A   RUN   TO    THE   CONTINENT. 


you  know,  was  only  a  woman,  and  a  woman  in  anger  ;  and  you 
who  remember  New  Orleans  under  Federal  rulers,  can  under- 
stand how  women  will  give  way  to  impatience  of  speech.  The 
strange  thing  was  that  she  was  German  born,  and  spoke  the 
German  tongue,  and  had  probably  not  a  drop  of  French  blood 
in  her  veins. 

Another  place  visited 
was  the  little  walled 
town  of  Schlettstadt, 
that  lies  in  the  way  to 
Switzerland,  between 
Colmar  and  Strasbourg, 
at  the  beginning   of  the 

Vosees  ranore  of  moun- 
ts o 

tains,  which  now  form 
the  boundary  of  France. 
In  the  distance  was  the 
comely  mountain  range, 
rippling  along  the  hori- 
zon, looking  green  and 
tawny  on  this  dreary 
autumn  day.  Now  and 
then  a  castellated  cha- 
teau, built  on  a  high, 
projecting  mountain 
point,  threw  its  rude, 
imposing  Gothic  towers 
against  the  summer  sky, 
rivaling  the  medieval  days  when  the  old  German  Ritters 
rode  out  from  under  their  heavy  arched  gates  and  into  these 
plains  to  do  battle  under  the  banner  of  Charlemagne.  And 
yet,  if  those  dead  walls  could  speak,  they  would  say  that  men 
in  the  age  of  steam  and  telegraphs  and  rifled  cannon  are  no 
better  than  their  ancestors  in  the  days  of  cross-bows  and  battle- 
axes,  and  that  this  long,  rolling,  fertile  Alsace  valley  is  the 
scene  of  hatreds  as  intense  as  were  ever  known  in  crusading 
times,  and  threatening  again  to  be  the  scene  of  battles  as  bloody 


BELGIUM  TO    ITAL*  . 


SCHLEJTSTADT.  ^g 

as  were  ever  known  on  the  Rhine.  Schlettstadt  is  some  dis- 
tance back  from  the  railroad,  and  was  fortified  by  Vauban  in 
the  highest  style  of  engineering  art.  There  are  outer  works 
and  inner  works  ;  two  gates,  with  moats  and  portcullis  and 
bridges,  and  at  the  exit  the  omnipresent  Pickelhaube,  sur- 
mounting a  light,  bright-faced  stripling  of  twenty,  whose  heart 
is  most  certainly  on  the  Rhine,  and  who  seems  to  look  envi- 
ously at  the  straggling  line  of  shouting  vine-harvesters  who 
come  home  laden  with  grapes  ready  for  the  vintage.  We  dis- 
cover, in  proper  fashion,  that  our  stripling  soldier  is  a  native  of 
Wurtemberg ;  but  his  work  and  discipline  evidently  do  not 
permit  of  useful  conversation,  nor  is  he  disposed  to  give  us  his 
views  upon  the  annexation  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine.  So  we 
drift  into  the  town,  which  should  have  ten  thousand  people, 
and  perhaps  more  (for  you  can  never  tell,  they  pack  families 
so  closely  in  these  queer,  quaint  old  houses).  The  town  seems 
so  dead — so  dead  !  The  only  life  we  see  is  in  the  swiftly  run- 
ning stream  of  water  which  takes  its  evening  sanitary  course 
along  the  gutters.  Here  is  a  building  large  enough  for  a  dozen 
stores,  that  may  have  been  a  granary  in  its  time.  Every  win- 
dow and  door  is  closed,  and  a  placard  informs  you,  in  the  French 
tongue,  that  if  you  want  to  buy  it,  you  have  only  to  accept  the 
price  and  pay  your  money.  Well,  in  time  we  come  to  the 
center  of  the  town.  We  take  it  to  be  the  center,  for  here  is  an 
open  space,  where  three  or  four  roads  meet,  and  some  ingeni- 
ous town  authority  has  arrayed  the  white  paving-stones  in  the 
shape  of  a  gigantic  five-cornered  star,  a  witch's  pentagram,  it 
would  seem,  and  intended,  among  other  things,  to  bring  the 
town  good  luck.  But  the  stony  incantation  has  failed,  for  here 
we  stand  in  the  heart  of  the  old  town,  and  all  is  silence.  Two 
thirds  of  the  stores  seem  to  be  shut.  There  is  one  store  mod- 
estly open,  where  you  can  buy  a  rosary,  or  certain  works  upon 
the  Blessed  Heart  of  Jesus,  should  you  be  so  inclined.  A  little 
distance  away  is  the  necessary  boucherie,  with  toothsome  shoul- 
ders of  mutton  appealing  to  your  appetite.  We  discover  the 
tavern,  in  the  hope  that  there  will  be  an  index  of  life.  The 
tavern-keeper  is  a  middle-aged  Alsatian  matron,  who  looks  at 


6q  A   RUN  TO    THE   CONTINENT. 

us  sharply,  and  seeing  us  to  be  strangers,  and  Germans  no 
doubt,  gives  expression  to  her  feelings  by  the  additional  vigor 
with  which  she  cuts  her  loaf  of  bread.  In  one  corner  is  a  pretty 
maiden  of  eight  or  nine,  with  brown  hair,  ironing  a  pair  of  cuffs 
with  an  iron  that  seems  too  heavy  for  her  strength.  The 
maiden  smiles  in  answer  to  some  cheery  word  of  encourage- 
ment, and  presses  on  in  her  work. 

Well,  even  the  town  tavern,  that  never-failing  fountain-head 
of  town  life,  is  dead.  Madame  willingly  gives  us  a  glass  of 
yellow  beer — quite  willingly  and  with  an  eager  bustle  in  her 
manner — for  she  has  discovered  that  we  are  not  Germans,  and 
not  new  arrivals  from  Berlin  with  instructions  to  see  that  the 
taxes  are  collected  and  that  the  school-masters  teach  only  the 
German  tongue.  We  look  around  the  room.  In  one  corner 
is  a  half-dozing  peddler,  from  Jewry  no  doubt — the  honest  man 
with  his  wares  on  table,  unsold  and  unsalable — dreaming,  "  Let 
us  trust  for  better  days  and  higher  prices."  In  another  is  a 
Prussian  soldier  drinking  his  beer  and  crunching  his  biscuit  in 
a  business-like  way,  meaning  to  eat  and  drink  and  be  off  to 
duty.  He  is  looking  calmly,  contemptuously  perhaps,  at  the 
two  persons  in  the  middle  of  the  room  trying  to  sing.  One  is 
a  peasant  in  his  blouse,  who  is  moderately  drunk  and  immode- 
rately happy,  for  he  has  found  an  Alsatian  brother,  a  soldier  in 
the  uniform,  yes,  the  very  uniform  of  France — blue  coat  and  red 
trousers — and  they  are  celebrating  their  loves  in  drink  and  song. 
This  soldier  of  France,  we  learn,  came  here  from  his  station  at 
Avignon.  He  had  business  in  Alsace  in  the  matter  of  his 
option,  and  is  now  waiting  for  the  train  to  carry  him  to  his 
post.  And  if  we  find  him  seriously  under  the  influence  of 
liquor,  who  can  blame  him,  or  the  blue-bloused  peasants  who 
are  plying  him  with  drinks  ?  For  to  them — drunk  or  sober — 
he  is  a  living  type  of  France,  of  her  glory  and  her  shame,  and 
one  day  he  may  come  again  behind  conquering  banners  and 
deliver  his  dear  Alsace.  Are  these  really  their  thoughts  ?  Cer- 
tainly there  are  no  words  spoken  to  that  effect,  nor  would  it  be 
productive  of  good,  with  that  wide-lipped  Prussian,  all  eyes  and 
ears,  calmly  looking   on  and   drinking   his  beer.      So   certainly 


THE  FRENCH  SOLDIER. 


6l 


madame  thinks,  for  when  the  soldier  and  peasant  have  a  frater- 
nal embrace,  and,  as  it  were,  unwittingly  break  out  into  a  strain 
of  the  "  Marseillaise,"  madame  rushes  to  him  and  demands 
peace  as  she  pats  him  on  the  back.  "  Peace,  oh!  peace  and 
silence,  friends,"  she  says  in  the  plainest  speech  that  eyes  can 
speak;  "peace  and  silence,  for  I  am  a  poor  woman  with  my 
tavern,  and  there  is  the  conqueror,  and  what  will  come  of  your 
sonir  of  revenue  ?"      It  was  a  trifling  incident,  and  went  before 


SCENE    IN   THE    BLAC 


the  eyes  in  a  flash,  and  yet  how  much  it  meant,  and  what  a 
color  it  gave  to  the  events  now  passing  into  history,  and  how 
truly  it  expressed  the  struggle  in  Alsace  and  Lorraine ! — the 
little  tavern  tableau  of  a  French  soldier  fraternizing  with  pea- 
sants, and  madame  striving  for  peace,  and  Hans  from  over  the 
Rhine  ready  to  put  his  hard  hand  upon  them  all  if  one  word  is 
spoken  or  one  deed  done  against  the  peace  and  power  of  the 
"  Most  All-Gracious  "  Kaiser  of  Deutschland.  The  soldier  was 
evidently  a  proper  person  in  his  way,  when  free  from  liquor, 


62 


A   RUN  TO   THE   CONTINENT. 


and  had  not  a  drinking  look,  but  an  honest,  light-bearded  Alsa- 
tian face,  with  steadiness  and  candor  about  him,  and  sure  of  his 
morning  headache,  as  all  temperance  tipplers  are  said  to  be. 
He  told  us  in  a  little  snatch  of  talk  that  he  was  from  Avignon, 
and  was  going  home  that  night.  His  speech  was  discreet.  "  I 
would  rather,"  he  said,  in  a  rollicking  way,  "  be  half-starved 
over  there,"  pointing  to  France,  "  than  to  live  like  a  lord 
here." 

Well,  we  pass  along  into  the  byways  of  the  sleeping  town — 


is  it  sleeping  or  is  it  dead,  I 
wonder  ? —  and  come  to  the 
church — a  large,  square  church 
of  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  cen- 
tury, black  with  six  centuries 
of  tempest  and  rain.  And  having  a  fancy  for  churches  of  the 
olden  time,  and  knowing  a  few  strains  of  music,  as  well  as  what 
Goethe  calls  the  frozen  music  of  architecture,  especially  the 
Gothic  work  of  the  Middle  Ages,  we  enter,  softly  pushing 
back  the  black,  greasy  gate.  It  is  very  dark  and  cold.  The 
eye  soon  adapts  itself  to  the  gloom,  and  we  see  in  the  shadow 
the  Sfildingf  and  curtains  that  surround  the  altar,  and  a  figure 
of  the   Virgin  that  must  have  given  peace   to   many  genera- 


A   SLEEPING    CHURCH.  5, 

tions  of  believing  men  and  women.  She  is  black  and  be- 
grimed. We  are  sorry  to  say  she  looks  unbecoming  in  this 
new-braided  brocaded  gown.  On  the  walls  are  inscriptions, 
which  we  only  read  with  an  effort  through  the  shadows,  and 
know  that  here  human  beings  have  rested  for  centuries  in 
peace  and  expectation.  But  how  still — how  awful  is  its  still- 
ness !  No  life,  no  sound,  no  spoken,  whispered  word,  no  move- 
ment of  any  living,  creeping  thing — nothing  but  the  intense, 
painful  silence — and  no  speech  except  what  "the  fancy  may 
gather  from  the  high,  swerving,  curving  arches,  and  groined 
columns  and  fantastic  groupings  and  carvings.  Surely  we  shall 
find  in  a  corner  some  trembling  grandmother  muttering  over 
her  beads  ;  or  some  fair  maiden,  with  burning,  blushing  face,  at 
the  feet  of  the  Virgin,  the  sanctity  of  whose  modest  prayers  it 
would  be  irreverent  to  divine,  only  we  hope  he  may  prove  true 
to  you  in  the  end  and  a  blessing  to  your  life,  poor  child  ;  or 
some  proud,  hopeful  mother,  in  the  triumphant  fullness  of  satis- 
fied love,  giving  back  to  the  Madonna,  who  has  blessed  her  life 
with  so  perfect  an  answer  to  her  hopes  and  prayers,  the  per- 
formance of  the  promised  vow.  The  writer  of  these  lines  has 
been  in  many  cathedrals,  from  those  in  the  far  North,  where 
the  sons  of  Odin  worshiped,  to  the  prodigious  piles  in  sunny 
Spain,  where  the  soldiers  of  Castile  gave  thanks  for  victo- 
ries over  the  Moors,  and  never  until  to-day  have  we  seen 
these  divine  emblems  without  a  suppliant.  Surely  some  curse 
must  have  fallen  upon  this  unhappy  land,  we  think,  as  we  kneel 
on  one  of  the  praying-stools — partly  for  devotion,  partly  to  ob- 
tain a  better  view  of  the  stained  glass  behind  the  sanctuary — 
surely  some  curse  must  have  fallen  upon  this  unhappy  land, 
when  even  in  their  misery  the  people  forget  to  pray  !  Thus 
in  thinking  we  pass  to  the  transept  door,  and  suddenly,  as 
though  it  were  in  a  vision,  we  come  upon  a  group  of  sisters  of 
some  religious  order  deep  in  prayer.  Five  in  all,  nestled  to- 
gether in  silent  prayer,  heads  bent,  their  white  caps  looking 
very  white  in  the  darkness,  so  silent  and  motionless  that  they 
might  be  statues.  We  move  out  on  tiptoe  not  to  disturb  the 
devotions,   and  learn  that  the  erood  sisters   have   instituted   a 


64 


A   RUN  TO    THE   CONTINENT. 


series  of  prayers  of  perpetual  intercession  for  mercy  and  pros- 
perity to  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  and  that  this  motionless  group 
were  doing  their  share  of  the  devotion. 

But  the  little  town  is  very  dead.     We  see  no  young  men. 
They  have  all  gone  to  France.     They  do  not  mean  to  serve  in 

the  German  army.  And 
new  men  have  come  here, 
full-bearded  Prussians,  to 
gather  taxes  and  see  that 
Prussian  laws  are  respect- 
ed, and  that  nothing  but 
German  is  taught  in  the 
schools.  We  saw  one  to- 
V>$^  day — a  new  arrival — parad- 
ing around  with  his  wife 
on  his  arm  and  an  um- 
brella in  his  hand,  with 
which  he  seemed  to  poke 
the  walls  and  paving-stones 
to  see  if  they  were  really 
sound.  He  has  been  ap- 
pointed to  some  local  tax- 
ing office,  and  has  come  all 
the  way  from  Pomerania  to 
fill  the  place,  and  is  on  an 
errand  of  observation.  He  looks  at  the  walls,  at  the  old,  red 
Mi'inster  tower,  at  the  cathedral,  with  his  own  thoughts,  per- 
haps, as  to  the  heathenism  and  abominations  of  the  place  ;  at 
the  earthworks  and  the  batteries  ;  at  the  gate  from  which  the 
French  imperial  arms  have  been  wrenched  and  the  German 
imperial  arms  not  yet  elevated,  as  the  place  is  raw,  and,  one 
would  think,  bleeding  ;  at  the  soldiers,  to  whom  he  removes 
his  hat,  while  they  stare  at  the  extraordinary  mark  of  atten- 
tion ;  at  the  closed  stores  ;  at  the  old  men  who  look  at  him 
from  the  window,  and  stretch  their  heads  out  to  follow  him 
up  the  street ;  and  he  walks  with  an  air  of  truculent  authority, 
evidently  feeling  that  the  town  would  be  none  the  worse  for  a 


LAVING   CORNER   STONE   OF   CHUKCH — GENEVA. 


/  R I  'SSL  IN   CHAR  A  CTER. 


65 


good  flogging  by  the  way  of  beginning  his  work.  A  sound, 
solid,  substantial,  severe,  but  not  unfeeling  man  the  new  master 
seemed  to  be,  with  his  instructions  from  the  Kaiser,  which  he 
means  to  follow,  and  God  be  good  to  all  who  will  not  obey 
those  instructions.  This  man  is  a  type  of  the  new  class  who 
have  come  into  Alsace  and  Lorraine.  The  utter  isolation  in 
which  the  new  king's  authority  is  held  by  the  resident  people 
has  compelled  the  Germans  to  send  for  civil  servants  to  Prussia. 
They  are  here  what  our  carpet-baggers  are  in  the  South,  with 
the  exception  that  they  are  a  better  class  of  people  and  selected 
from  the  government  service  for  their  fine  administrative  quali- 
ties, and  a  more  worthy  breed  of  men  in  all  respects  than  the 
new  masters  of  the  conquered  South  ;  severe,  because  Prussian 
rule  is  essentially  severe,  and  to  none  more  than  Prussian  peo- 
ple— severe  and  just  and  unrelenting.  But  between  the  two 
races — those  who  come  to  command,  and  those  who  have  not 
crossed  the  Vosges  Mountains,  but  remain  to  obey — there  is  an 
intense  antagonism.      The  Frenchman  regards  the   Prussian  as 

o  o 

a  brute  ;  the  Prussian  thinks  the  Frenchman  is  a  little  better 
than  a  monkey,  and  sorely  needing  the  cane.  Neither  will  see 
or  recognize  the  good  qualities  of  the  other.  The  veracity  and 
patience  and  discipline  and  stubborn  valor  and  deep-thinking 
intelligence,  the  tenacity  and  purpose  of  the  Prussian  charac- 
ter, are  lost  on  the  French  ;  while  the  Prussians  do  not  see  in 
the  French  a  grace,  vivacity,  enthusiasm,  thrift,  and  spirit 
which  make  them  the  most  affectionate  friends,  the  most  im- 
placable enemies,  in  the  world.  You  can  only  win  a  French- 
man's affections  by  tact.  Tact  is  the  one  quality  you  do  not 
find  in  the  Prussian  character,  and  so,  from  the  very  outset  of 
this  occupation,  you  find  two  races  arrayed  against  each  other 
— great,  noble  races  of  men — one  conquered,  the  other  conquer- 
ing, and  with  no  element  of  sympathy  or  association.  This 
Prussian  poking  around  with  his  umbrella  was  a  type.  He 
came  to  rule.  Those  who  stared  and  sneered  should  obey. 
He  meant  they  should.  He  gave  himself  no  concern  on  that 
head.  For  was  he  not  the  Kaiser's  embassador,  and  behind 
him  was  not  the  Kaiser's  whole  army  ? 
5 


66 


A   RUN  TO    THE   CONTINENT. 


If  there  was  any  sentiment  in  this  annexation — and  much 
has  been  said  about  the  old  German  sentiment  of  unity  and 
love  for  the  Fatherland — 1  can  imagine  how  it  would  cluster 
around  Strasbourg.  It  is  sixteen  hundred  years  since  the  Ger- 
mans crossed  the  Rhine  and  found  a  Roman  city  here,  at  the 
junction  of  the  111  and  the  Rhine.  Over  fifteen  hundred 
years  have  passed  since  Julian  the  Emperor  was  its  governor. 
Over  thirteen  hundred  years  ago  Clovis  built  a  cathedral  on  a 


SCENE    IN    ALSACE. 


pie  to   Hercules  and  Mars. 


site  which  had 
been  used  by  the 
savage  Celts  for 
their  rude  offerings, 
and  afterward  by  the 
Romans  as  a  tem- 
But  Clovis  had  found  light,  and 
he  built  his  church — long  since  gone  to  wreck  from  lightning 
and  the  winds — and  where  now  stands  the  highest  Gothic  spire 
in  the  world,  founded  in  the  eleventh  century,  in  the  glow  and 
flame  of  Catholicism,  when  a  Pope  ruled  the  world  with  his 
shepherd's  crook,  and  religious  enthusiasm  found  expression  in 
the  Gothic  cathedrals,  which  are  all  over  Europe,  and  in  cru- 
sades for  the  Holy  Sepulcher.  Strasbourg  was  a  "great  city" 
in  the  time  of  Dagobert,  who  was  king  one  thousand  and  eighty 
years  ago.      Charlemagne  was  proud  of  it,  and  did   it   many  a 


THE   GATE  AUSTERLITZ. 


6; 


good  service.  Then  Louis  the  Great  seized  it,  and  his  succes- 
sors held  it  until  Bismarck  came  in  1S70.  So  it  was  French  for 
one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  years.  When  Louis  took  it  there 
were  about  30,000  people  ;  at  the  time  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion there  were  50,000,  reaching  to  82,000  in  1861 — growing 
mainly  by  marriages  and  births,  as  an  old-fashioned  town  should 
grow.  So  the  men  and  women  who  live  herejive  in  homes  in 
which  their  ancestors  dwelt  for  centuries,  and  when  they  go  to 
France  it  means  the  severance  from  very,  very  deep  roots  of 
ancestry,  pride,  association,  and  affection. 

Strasbourg  has  other  memories.  Here  Calvin  preached 
after  Geneva  quarreled  with  him,  remaining  six  years,  until  the 
stern  city  on  the  hills  reversed  her  affections  and  he  went  back 
to  expound  the  Gospel  and  contemplate  eternity  from  the  banks 
of  beautiful  Lake  Leman.  Here  Kellerman,  who  won  the  bat- 
tle of  Marengo  and  became  Duke  of  Valmy  under  Napoleon, 
was  born  ;  while  just  beyond  the  walls,  in  a  valley,  from  where 
a  Baden  battery  played  sad  havoc  with  the  city,  is  the  monu- 
ment to  Desaix,  whose  death  at  Marengo  took  from  Napoleon 
all  pleasure  in  the  victory.  Here  Kleber  was  born  ;  and  there 
is  a  broad,  open,  straggling  square  called  after  him,  with  a 
bronze  monument  of  the  general  in  a  high  state  of  valor — very 
French,  very  unnatural,  and  very  absurd.  It  was  here  Goethe 
studied,  and  along  these  green  terraced  walks  of  Vauban  he 
walked  and  mused,  thinking  great  thoughts.  And,  although 
you  may  have  forgotten  it,  here  one  Louis  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte, big  with  destiny  and  following  his  star,  came  one  morn- 
ing to  try  a  desperate  chance  with  fate.  Well,  it  is  worth 
remembering,  as  the  world  goes,  as  the  beginning  of  a  career 
that  has  ended  in  Chiselhurst.  It  was  on  the  30th  October, 
1836,  when  the  leaves  were  about  fallen,  and  the  skies  as  dark 
as  they  are  now,  I  suppose,  at  daybreak,  when  the  young 
Prince,  not  thirty,  with  a  troop  of  adventurers,  came  in  at  the 
Gate  Austerlitz  —  the  same  gate  through  which  the  writer 
passed  this  afternoon — and  now  tenanted  by  a  Prussian  sentry 
and  a  drowsy  old  woman  selling  toothsome  cakes  to  all  who 
choose  to  buy.      The  Prince  had  bribed  some  soldiers  of  the 


68 


A   RUN  TO   THE    CONTINENT. 


Fourth  Artillery  to  join  him,  and  they  came  trooping  in,  shout- 
ing "  Vive  VEmpereur  /"  They  went  into  the  large  barracks 
right  at  the  gate,  at  whose  windows  you  may  see  twenty 
fair-haired  Prussians  smoking  pipes  and  thinking  their  own 
thoughts  as  they  look  toward  the  Rhine.  But  when  they  cried 
"Vive  l] 'Empereur ! '"  to  the  infantry  in  the  barracks,  and  the  in- 
fantry only  saw  a  rather  stupid  young  man,  dressed  up  in  the 

historic  costume  of  the  great 
Napoleon,  it  only  required 
the  colonel  to  come  in  and 
denounce  him  as  an  im- 
postor to  lead  to  the  arrest 
of  the  whole  party.  And 
so  Louis  was  sent  out  to 
America,  to  an  exile  in 
Hoboken,  and  to  events 
thereafter  which  the  world 
knows. 

Strasbourg  looks  like  a 
well-patched  city.  The  Ger- 
mans have  striven  earnestly 
to  repair  the  evils  of  the 
bombardment.  You  only 
see  traces  of  the  firing  in 
the  new  spaces  on  the  re- 
paired walls.  The  venera- 
ble and  majestic  cathedral  is  quite  repaired.  The  bridges 
have  been  built.  The  owners  of  injured  private  houses  were 
indemnified  and  the  houses  rebuilt.  The  old  Library  Build- 
ing is  still  a  ruin,  and  I  had  sad  thoughts  as  I  walked  around 
it  and  remembered  the  two  hundred  thousand  volumes  burned 
into  ashes  —  some  of  them  never  to  be  replaced  —  a  loss  as 
great  in  some  respects  as  the  Alexandrian  Library.  But  the 
old  city  looks  bright  and  busy  and  full  of  interest,  and  to 
a  new  eye  suffers  little  from  the  exodus.  The  stores  were 
nearly  all  open.  The  Prussian  sentry  was  everywhere,  and 
Prussian   officers  were   always   drifting  along  the  warm,  invit- 


STREET    IN    STRASBOURG. 


STRASBOURG. 


69 


ing    streets 


In  the  evening  the  Wurtemberg  band  played 
on  the  Broglie  Platz,  and  there  was  quite  a  gathering.  But 
as  far  as  we  could  see  they  were  wives  and  families  of  Prus- 
sian officers  and  a  few  nursery- 
maids.  The  townspeople  do  not 
go  on  the  "  Platz  "  when  the  Ger- 
man band  plays.  It  is  a  mark 
of  patriotism.  There  are  other 
"  marks  of  patriotism  "  welcome 
to  the  female  mind.  One  is  to 
speak  French.  If  you  enter  a 
store  and  ask  for  anything  in 
German,  you  will  certainly  have 
sullen  treatment.  You  may  buy 
patriotic  sleeve  -  buttons  for  a 
couple  of  francs,  in  whitish  metal, 
bearing  the  coat  of  arms  of  Alsace 
and  Lorraine  linked  by  a  chain. 
Some  "take  their  revenge"  in 
rosettes  of  red,  white,  and  blue,  by 
wearing  full  mourning,  and  others  by  wearing  a  peculiar  elastic 
strip  in  the  same  colors,  joined  by  a  buckle,  and  which  a  well-in- 
formed shopkeeper  told  me  were  garters.  Of  these  he  sold  a 
large  quantity,  as  well  as  of  a  small  stud,  representing  an  ex- 
foliating flower,  colored  red,  white,  and  blue,  and  meant  to  do 
modest  and  needful  duty  in  underclothing.  There  is  a  picture 
also  of  a  young  woman  wearing  the  waving  Alsatian  headdress, 
her  face  tearful,  in  full  mourning,  with  a  small  tricolor  rosette  in 
the  hair.  This  is  Alsace.  In  the  corner  is  the  motto,  " Elle 
attend!" — "She  waits."  This  has  had  a  great  sale  ;  and  like- 
wise a  picture  of  France  as  an  angry  female,  scantily  attired, 
holding  a  drawn  sword,  and  waiting  for  something.  "  Re- 
venge " — most  likely.  There  are  cafes  where  you  see  no  Prus- 
sians ;  others  where  you  see  no  Frenchmen.  Generally  the 
Prussian  is  ignored  by  the  people  ;  but  the  garrison  is  building 
up  its  own  circle  of  wives  and  mothers  and  friends  from  home, 
and  I  take   it  the  officers  are  not  lonely.      I  have  seen  many 


STORK  S   NEST — STRASBOURG. 


/O 


A   RUN   TO    THE    CONTINENT. 


mousing  around  the  shops  or  on  the  parade  ground  purchasing 
knickknacks  or  listening  to  the  music,  and  good,  honest  wives  or 
sweethearts  on  their  arms,  and  very  comfortable  to  all  appear- 
ances. 

But  the  young  men  have  gone.  That  is  the  one  fact. 
Now,  under  the  French  law  of  conscription,  the  number  of  re- 
cruits, based  upon  the  population,  who  reported  to  the  French 
commandant  in  1870,  was  nearly  two  hundred.  Under  the 
Prussian  law,  which  exempts  no  one,  and  which  should  have 
had  double  the  number,  there  were  just  ten  who  reported. 
( )nly  ten  young  men  in  all  Strasbourg  for  the  Kaiser  !  And  the 
rest — all  fled  over  the  mountains  to  France — are  now  shuf- 
fling up  and  down  the  Paris  boulevards  asking  for  work,  or 
helping  the  wine-growers  in  Champagne  gather  their  harvests. 
The  young  men  have  certainly  gone,  and  this  is  the  loss  to 
Strasbourg.  It  is  very  difficult  to  induce  an  Alsatian  to  con- 
verse with  you  as  a  stranger,  for  you  may  be  a  mouchard  and 
go  around  the  corner  and  report  him  if  he  is  patriotic.  But 
from  some  conversations  I  gathered  these  grievances  :  "  Sir 
and  friend,"  said  an  Alsatian,  "  we  do  not  complain,  we  wait. 
The  Prussian  officers  are  civil  enough.  They  do  us  no  harm. 
The  civil  officers  are  the  worst.  See  how  they  have  changed 
our  streets.  All  the  French  names  have  been  taken  down  and 
German  names  painted  instead.  Why,  a  man  don't  know 
where  he  lives  any  more,  and  the  cabbies  do  nothing  but  swear 
about  it.  Our  schools  are  all  taught  in  German.  French  is 
not  allowed  unless  you  pay  extra.  See  those  fellows  at  the 
railway  station.  They  are  all  as  surly  as  pickpockets.  You 
speak  French  and  they  answer  in  German.  A  girl  of  mine, 
born  in  Paris,  went  to  the  office  and  asked  for  a  ticket  in 
French.  '  If  you  don't  speak  German  I  won't  answer  you,' 
said  the  man  in  the  window.  All  the  towns  have  changed 
names.  Thionville,  last  year,  is  now  called  Diedenhofen.  Ask 
that  railway  man  for  a  ticket  to  Thionville,  and  he  will  say  he 
never  heard  of  the  place,  and  it  is  one  of  the  largest  towns  in 
Lorraine.  The  day  of  the  French  surrender  here  there  was  a 
fete,   and    the   spire  of   the  cathedral   illuminated.     Was   that 


GRIEVANCES. 


71 


pleasant — pleasant  to  think  of  the  time  when  German  shells 
rained  upon  our  city,  and  we  had  to  dig  holes  in  the  embank- 
ments and  live  like  moles  and  rats  ?  We  liked  the  Germans  as 
neighbors  over  the  Rhine.  We  think  they  mean  to  do  well 
enough  now.      Perhaps  we  did   belong   to  Germany  once,  and 


SCENE    IM    THE    ALP^. 


should  be  Germans  now.  But  that  was  two  hundred  years  ago. 
Two  hundred  years  is  a  long  time.  You  Americans  have  not 
been  a  hundred  years  from  England.  You  speak  the  same 
language,  have  the  same  books  and  the  same  laws.  How  would 
you  like  to  have  New  York  seized  by  England  ?  That  is  our 
situation.      We  are  seized  by  Germany,  and  must  learn  a  new 


72 


A   RUN   TO    THE    CONTINENT. 


language,  observe  new  laws,  and  go  out  and  make  war,  when 
the  German  king  commands,  upon  men  whom  we  regard  as 
brothers." 

So  far  as  carpenters  and  painters  and  cunning  workmen  can 
go,  Strasbourg  and  Metz  and  all  Alsatian  towns  are  thoroughly 
changed.  You  walk  through  Strasbourg  and  you  find  every 
corner  has  a  new  sign,  certifying  in  the  German  tongue  the 
street  has  a  new  name.      In  some   side  streets  the   old  French 

names  remain  ;  but  nearly 
every  corner  has  a  fresh,  glar- 
ing, German  sign  in  large 
blue  letters.  The  railways 
have  German  signs  telling 
you  where  to  eat,  where  to 
wait,  and  where  to  deliver  and 
obtain  your  baggage.  The 
cabmen  are  much  distressed 
about  this,  one  of  them  ex- 
plaining, not  without  pro- 
fanity, that  he  did  not  know 
his  head  from  his  heels  since 
the  new  signs  were  put  up. 
But  in  all  matters  of  adminis- 
tration, so  far  as  the  army  is 
concerned,  the  people  have 
been  treated  with  kindness 
and  generosity.  The  Prussian  officer,  in  any  view  you  may 
take  of  him,  is  not  what  would  be  regarded  as  a  model  father- 
in-law.  He  would  rather  be  insolent  than  not,  if  you  give 
him  occasion.  But  in  Alsace  the  officers  seem  to  belong  to 
an  amiable  race.  The  orders  from  Berlin  are  to  "win  the 
people  back  to  the  Fatherland,"  and  so  the  Alsatians  are  in  the 
strange  attitude  of  receiving  good  gifts  and  spurning  the  givers. 
All  who  have  lost  money  in  the  bombardment  have  been  well 
paid.  1  am  sorry  to  say  that  many  of  them,  as  soon  as  they 
received  their  money,  declared  for  France,  and  left  for  Paris  to 
become  martyrs  on  the  boulevards.      The   Prussian  only  shows 


VOU    MUST   SPEAK    GERMAN. 


THE  BAYONET. 

10 


his  Prussian  nature  in  dealing  with  the  emigrants.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  great  brutality  has  been  shown  to  those  Alsatians 
who  declared  for  France  and  emigrated.  They  were  ill  used  at 
the  railway  stations,  crammed  into  inferior  cars,  and  every  dis- 
comfort heaped  upon  them.  Apart  from  this,  the  Prussian  rule 
in  Strasbourg  and  throughout  Alsace  has  been  as  kind  as  ever 
the  French  was — far  kinder  than  you  will  find  it  in  Germany. 

Wherever  you  go  you  meet  the  Pickelhauber.  Over  all 
you  see  the  soldier  standing  guard.  You  see  that  the  bayonet 
is  master  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine.  The  activity  and  eneroy 
and  industry  shown  by  the  Prussians  in  military  matters  are 
everywhere  visible  to  the  eye  of  a  traveler,  and  seem  to  a  mere 
sojourner  prodigious.  In  every  barrack-yard  men  are  con- 
stantly drilling.  New  forts  are  being  built  around  the  fortified 
cities.  Metz,  always  strong,  is  now  stronger  than  ever  ;  while 
if  Strasbourg  is  ever  to  be  taken  it  must  be  by  some  species  of 
balloon  artillery — there  would  seem  to  be  no  other  human  way. 
The  railways  are  in  superb  condition,  with  an  unusual  quantity 
of  rolling  stock.  The  Prussian  is  exhausting  art  in  making- 
himself  strong  and  building  forts  with  French  money. 

The  Prussians  have  very  little  to  say  about  Alsace  and  Lor- 
raine. This  eminently  practical  people  are  not  given  to  waste 
words  in  idle  conversation.  "  We  took  Alsace,"  said  an  officer, 
"  because  we  wanted  it.  We  took  Lorraine,  because  we  meant 
to  keep  Alsace.  We  would  have  taken  Champagne  had  it  been 
necessary.  I  have  not  studied  the  international  law  on  the 
subject,  nor  do  we  have  any  interest  in  it,  or  what  the  outside 
sympathizing  world  says.  We  fought  the  French,  we  whipped 
them,  and  we  did  what  the  French  would  have  done — we  took 
every  advantage.  Why,  Germany  don't  keep  an  army  for  a 
toy.  We  are  an  army  to  build  up  a  nation,  to  make  a  Germany 
that  will  not  be  ruled  by  statesmen  in  Paris  and  London.  So 
long  as  Palmerston  and  Napoleon  could  play  one  German 
prince  against  another,  like  chessmen,  and  keep  the  duchies 
and  kingdoms  in  a  constant  flutter,  poor  Germany  was  a  prey 
for  whoever  came  to  plunder — for  Napoleon,  for  Louis,  for  any 
ambitious  Czar  ;  and  in   time  we  would  have  become  like  the 


74 


A   RUN   TO    THE   CONTINENT. 


Scandinavian  countries  or  Turkey,  and  run  into  political  decay, 
until  compact  France  on  one  side,  and  Russia  on  the  other, 
ever  making  mischief,  fomenting  trouble,  came  in  to  rob  when- 
ever it  suited  them.  Now,  by  heavens  !  there  is  an  end  of  it, 
and,  that  it  may  end  we  have  taken  Alsace  and  Lorraine.    If  any 


one    wants 
reason,    give 
them    that — 
there    is     no 
other.     Why  talk  me- 
taphysics    when     you 
have    an     army     and 
cannon  ?      We     were 
strong  enough  to  take 
Alsace,    we     are     strong 
enough  to  keep  it,  and  be- 
fore   these    poor    French- 
men begin  to  cry  revenge 
for  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  they  had  better  be  sure  we  are  out  ol 
Champagne.      It  would  not  take  many  more  speeches  of  Gam- 


LAKE   MAGGIORE — NORTHERN    ITALY. 


PRUSSIAN  STATESMANSHIP.  ye 

betta,  many  more  insults  to  our  embassador,  to  have  the  army 
of  occupation  centered  at  Rheims.  Of  course  Prussia  wants 
peace.  We  have  all  we  wanted,  more  than  we  expected,  and 
don't  want  to  be  disturbed.  But  I  am  one  of  several  hundred 
thousand  Prussians  whose  business  is  war,  and  if  war  must  come, 
as  they  all  say  it  will,  we  cannot  be  too  earnest  and  too  well 
prepared.  As  to  the  people  here,  we  mean  to  treat  them  like 
brothers.  They  will  make  better  Germans  because  of  their 
having  been  so  good  Frenchmen.  As  to  the  going  away,  it  is 
rather  a  vexation.  But  if  they  will  leave  their  farms  and  homes, 
there  are  Germans  enough  up  in  poor  sterile  Pommern  and 
Brandenburg  who  will  gladly  come  into  these  fertile  fields. 
Instead  of  emigrating  to  America,  they  will  come  down  to  the 
Rhine.  We  have  Germans  enough  to  fill  up  this  country,  and 
once  these  restless,  unhappy  Frenchmen  are  well  sifted  out,  and 
all  in  Paris  becrarino-  at  the  cafes,  the  Germans  will  come  in. 
We  would  rather  the  people  would  have  remained,  but  it  may 
be  best  as  it  is.  We  can  hold  the  country  better  with  Pome- 
ranians living  on  these  fields  than  it  would  have  been  possible 
with  Alsatians.  Ten  years  from  now  and  you  will  find  Alsace 
the  richest,  happiest,  and  most  contented  province  of  the  Father- 
land. Prussia  means  to  have  it  so,  and  Prussia  generally  suc- 
ceeds in  doing  what  she  purposes." 

It  would  be  unjust  to  suppose  that  this  is  a  mere  brutal 
wresting  of  territory  from  France  by  Prince  Bismarck.  Nor 
would  you  understand  this  movement  at  all  without  looking 
at  those  high  political  and  commercial  considerations  which 
controlled  the  Prussian  statesman  and  bade  him  bid  defiance 
to  the  public  sentiment  of  Europe  and  the  world.  Look  at  the 
map  of  Europe  and  you  will  find  that  the  route  to  the  Indies  is 
now  the  contending  question  in  a  commercial  sense.  That  ques- 
tion underlay  the  Crimean  war.  With  the  tunnel  at  Mont  Cenis 
and  the  Isthmus  of  Suez  canal,  France  had  her  hand  upon  that 
route,  was  master  of  a  great  international  highway,  while  Germany 
was  shoved  up  out  of  the  way.  With  the  possession  of  Alsace, 
Bismarck  has  his  lines  direct  from  Landen  to  Basle.  He  has 
the  Rhine  and  its  traffic.     You  remember  some  time  since  what 


76 


A   RUN   TO   THE   CONTINENT. 


was  known  as  the  Franco-Belgian  Railway  war.  Napoleon  de- 
sired to  exercise  certain  rights  over  the  railways  in  Belgium 
and  Luxemburg.  The  clamor  arose  that  this  was  his  first  step 
in  an  intrigue  for  the  occupation  of  Belgium.  The  idea  that 
Napoleon  was  compelled  to  abandon,  under  Prussian  and  Eng- 
lish pressure,  Bismarck  is  about  to  realize.  With  the  tunnel 
through  the  Alps,  at  St.  Gothard,  he  will  have  a  through  route 
from  the  North  Sea  to  the  Adriatic,  in  no  place  going  through 
French  territory.  Years  ago  those  who  watched  the  policy  of 
Bismarck  foresaw  and  announced  this  as  his  purpose.  Those 
who  will  go  back  to  the  Franco-Belgian  Railway  trouble,  and 
read  up  the  diplomatic  correspondence,  will  see  that  Bismarck 
was  then  in  conflict  with  France — almost  to  the  point  of  war  ; 
they  will  understand  his  persistence,  and  especially  understand 
the  scorn  with  which  he  viewed  the  Benedetti  scheme  to  divide 

the  Low  Countries 
between  France 
and  Prussia,  and 
his  ferocity  when 
France  proposed  to 
buy  Luxemburg 
from  Holland.  The 
necessary  steps  in 
that  policy,  after 
the  victory  at  Se- 
dan, were  to  take 
Alsace  and  enough 
of  Lorraine  to  pro- 
tect it.  With  the 
St.  Gothard  tunnel  complete,  Germany  has  the  whole  trade  of 
the  Rhine,  and  the  right  of  way  from  the  North  Sea  to  the 
Adriatic,  a  highway  to  India. 

This  first  high  political  consideration  could  only  be  obtained 
with  Alsace.  You  will  understand  its  value  when  you  see  that 
in  obtaining  this  territory  Germany  obtained  one  of  the  finest 
railway  systems  in  Europe. 

Germany,   therefore,  obtains  this  railway  system.      France 


FRENCH    AND    GERMAN    SOLDIERS. 


GERMAN    VERSUS   FRENCHMAN. 


77 


bCENE   IN    KAUAI  j. 


was  allowed  to  deduct  the  value  of  the  railways  and  rolling 
stock  from  the  indemnity,  and  to  repay  the  owners.  Anyhow 
Germany  took  the  road,  and  it  now  belongs  to  the  German  Em- 
pire. Having  to  pay  no  dividend,  the  king  can  run  it  at  any 
rate  he  pleases,  and 
always  carry  freight 
cheaper  than 
France.  This  is  a 
severe  blow  to  the 
commerce  of  France. 
Then  come  the  com- 
mercial and  financial 
relations  between 
the  masters  of  the 
cotton  and  beer  and 
other  industries  and  Paris.  In  other  times  Paris  capital  nou- 
rished these  industries  ;  now,  the  Paris  banker  withdraws  his 
capital.  Where  is  the  Alsatian  trader  and  manufacturer  to 
look  for  credit  ?  He  is  severed  from  Paris,  which  is  rich,  and 
must  look  to  Frankfort,  which  will  not  lend  money  on  these 
securities,  its  dealings  being  of  a  different  character ;  or  to 
Berlin,  which  is  poor  and  cannot.  His  French  capital  and  his 
financial  connections  with  Paris  are  withdrawn,  and  he  finds 
himself  among  foreigners,  compelled  to  deal  with  foreigners, 
who  are  not  familiar  with  his  wants  or  prepared  to  aid  him  ;  nay, 
more,  to  ask  his  conqueror  and  master  for  credit.  And  is  he  at 
all  certain  that  he  will  obtain  credit  ?  His  conqueror  knows  he 
is  an  enemy,  an  enemy  at  heart,  and  cannot  be  trusted.  Is 
it  any  wonder  that  the  Alsatian  has  been  driven  to  a  sore  trial, 
and  should  we  be  surprised  that  he  has  followed  his  sympa- 
thies, and,  abandoning  his  home  and  business,  has  gone  to 
live  in  France  ?  Some  will  remain,  like  the  faithful  Hebrews 
in  Spain,  during  the  dread  time  of  the  Inquisition,  who  wor- 
shiped the  Christ  of  the  Christians  before  men  and  the  He- 
brew Jehovah  in  the  silence  and  security  of  home.  They 
remain,  thinking  and  hoping,  as  the  Venetians  thought  and 
hoped,   when   Austria   became   master  of  the   Adriatic  Queen. 


7« 


A   RUN  TO    THE   CONTINENT. 


Venice,  under  her  German  master,  and  abandoned  by  her  aris- 
tocracy, remained  more  Italian  than  Florence  or  Turin  ;  the 
Teutonic  power  never  took  root,  and  when  the  day  of  deliver- 
ance came,  it  floated  away  like  the  surface  foam  from  the  ocean 
waves  when  the  storm  is  over.  So  do  those  patient,  hoping 
Frenchmen  think,  who  still  remain  in  Alsace  and  Lorraine. 
The  German  may  come.  They  will  bow  to  his  imperial  will. 
But  they  will  hold  their  hearts  and  honor  pure  for  that  happy 
day  when  the  tricolor  will  float  from  the  dizzy  spire  of  Stras- 
bourg cathedral  and  the  Marseillaise  again  be  heard  upon  the 
banks  of  the  Rhine. 


3^ly  ■ffi-^^ai 


CHAPTER    IV. 


ENGLAND    AND    SCOTLAND. 


N  the  General's  return  from  the  Continent,  he  made 
his  promised  visit  to  Scotland.  On  Thursday,  the 
31st  of  August,  he  arrived  in  Edinburgh,  where  he 
was  received  by  the  Lord  Provost,  whose  guest  he 
was  during  his  stay  in  Scotland.  The  freedom  of  the  city 
was  presented  in  the  Free  Assembly  Hall.  There  were  up- 
ward of  two  thousand  persons  present.  In  reply  to  the  Lord 
Provost's  speech,  General  Grant  said  : 

"  I  am  so  filled  with  emotion,  that  I  hardly  know  how  to  thank  you  for  the 
honor  conferred  upon  me  by  making  me  a  burgess  of  this  ancient  city  of  Edin- 
burgh. I  feel  that  it  is  a  great  compliment  to  me  and  to  my  country.  Had  I 
eloquence  I  might  dwell  somewhat  on  the  history  of  the  great  men  you  have 
produced,  or  the  numerous  citizens  of  this  city  and  Scotland  that  have  gone  to 
America,  and  the  record  they  have  made.  We  are  proud  of  Scotchmen  as  citi- 
zens of  America.     They  make  good  citizens  of  our  country,  and  they  find  it 

79 


8o 


ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 


The  £ 

Helridp  J    ~ 

Lewis  \.<t£  s  ,v    ^  ^ 


V  B     *   5&kYl>rkc 

r,       >  Liverpool  Lo_>    i.    SheffileldU  ,«il 

JBLIN\         .      y^J ^jChMtef  ^  /        _^^ 

1,11 


lUBLIrA         ■■      H?-f    ,   >C>iSle?   ,/<    /  Xvt' 


-'-j-ii 


XN>  Klddcrniiiuar  rS^WarwIck  Cn" 


profitable  to  themselves."     (Laughter.)     "  I   again    thank   you  for  the  honor 
you  have  conferred  upon  me." 

General  Grant  visited  all  the  interesting  places  in  and  about 

the  beautiful  metropolis  of 
Scotland — the  memorial  of 
the  Prince  Consort,  the 
Commercial  Bank,  the  pub- 
lic gardens,  the  Library, 
the  site  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's 
birthplace,  the  memorials 
ol  Burns,  and  others  of 
Scotland's  venerated  sons. 
He  strolled  through  the 
Cowsfate,  and  other  scenes 
of  the  older  parts  of  the 
town,  familiar  to  all  readers 
of  Scott's  prose  and  poetry. 
There  was  a  visit  to  the 
Castle,  where  Colonel  Mac- 
kenzie, of  the  98th  High- 
landers, received  the  Gen- 
eral, and  showed  him  all 
the  objects  of  interest. 
Thence  the  General  paid 
a  visit  to  Holyrood  Palace, 
and  saw  the  rooms  where 
Queen  Mary  spent  so  much  of  her  life,  and  that  somber  chamber 
where  David  Rizzio  was  dragged  from  her  presence  and  mur- 
dered. There  was  a  visit  to  the  little  house  where  John  Knox 
lived,  every  stone  of  which  Scotchmen  cherish  with  revering 
hands,  and  the  hostelry  in  White  Horse  Close,  visited  by  Dr. 
Johnson  on  his  trip  to  the  Hebrides.  There  was  a  drive  round 
Arthur's  Seat.  In  the  evening  the  Lord  Provost  gave  a  dinner, 
at  which  the  General  met  Major-General  Stewart,  the  com- 
manding officer  in  Scotland,  and  other  officers  of  the  British 
army. 

On    Saturday,    the     1st     of     September,    the    Tay    bridge 


II     i'I/AXXK7' 

a. 


Channel  *0 


ENGLAND    AND    SCOTLAND. 


ABBOTSFORD.  gx 

was  visited.  Flags  and  streamers  were  hoisted  on  the  ferry 
steamers.  The  occupier  of  the  light-house  also  decorated  his 
premises,  and  the  "Stars  and  Stripes"  waved  from  the  tower. 
There  was  a  visit  to  the  training-ship  "Mars,"  where  the  boys 
manned  the  yards  in  honor  of  the  General.  As  he  stepped  on 
board  the  band  played  the  German  war  song.  The  boys  went 
through  their  exercises,  and  sang  the  Canadian  boat  song  under 
the  direction  of  Mr.  Nichols.  When  the  song  was  partly  fin- 
ished the  fire-bell  sounded.  The  boys  instantly  ran  to  quarters, 
manned  the  fire  engine,  and  had  the  hose  ready  in  a  couple  of 
minutes.  The  discipline  shown  in  this  performance  was  admi- 
rable. From  here  the  party  went  on  board  the  steam-tug 
"Elsinore  "  and  steamed  across  to  Dundee.  From  this  point 
they  proceeded  to  Tayport,  and  returned  to  Edinburgh  on 
Monday.  From  the  latter  place  the  General  visited  Melrose 
and  Abbotsford — all  interesting  as  entwined  in  the  poetry  and 
annals  of  that  border  land,  and  rendered  classic  by  the  genius 
of  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

On  Tuesday,  September  4th,  the  General  went  to  Dunrobin, 
to  pay  a  visit  to  the  Duke  of  Sutherland.  The  Duke  met  the 
General  a  short  distance  from  Dunrobin,  and  accompanied  him 
to  his  home.  The  visit  to  this  distinguished  nobleman  was 
full  of  interest.  The  Duke  of  Sutherland  has  done  much  to  im- 
prove the  vast  domains  which  are  his  inheritance,  and  although 
the  weather  was  unfavorable  during  his  stay,  the  General  took 
deep  interest  in  studying  the  agricultural  systems  of  the  North 
of  Scotland. 

On  the  6th  of  September,  he  visited  the  horticultural  fair  at 
Dornock.  On  Friday,  the  7th,  accompanied  by  the  Duke,  he 
went  to  Thurso  Castle.  On  his  arrival  at  Thurso,  the  General 
was  received  by  a  guard  of  volunteers  belonging  to  the  local 
arcillery  and  rifle  corps.  There  he  was  met  by  Sir  Tollemache 
Sinclair,  and  an  address  was  presented  by  the  magistrates  and 
Town  Council.  In  the  evening  there  was  a  dinner  at  the  castle. 
The  General  also  visited  Inverness,  where  he  was  received  by 
the  Provost,  who  presented  him  with  an  address.  The  Provost 
said  the  people  of  the  Highlands  had  a  strong  claim  upon  Gen- 
6 


8: 


ENGLAND   AND  SCOTLAND. 


eral  Grant,  as  bearing  the  name  of  a  well-known  and  highly 
respected  Highland  clan.  At  Granttown  the  General  was 
welcomed  to  "  the  home  of  the  Grants."  It  was  his  intention 
to  have  paid  a  visit  to  Castle  Grant,  the  home  of  the  Earl  of 
Seafield,  the  head  of  the  Grant  clan,  but  circumstances  would 
nut  permit. 

On  Tuesday,  the    iith    of  September,  there   was  a  visit  to 

the  town  of  Elgin.  There  was 
also  the  presentation  of  an  ad- 
dress to  the  General  by  the 
Town  Council  of  Wick.  In  this 
address  the  Provost  alluded  to 
the  fact  that  one  of  his  prede- 
cessors, Sir  John  Sinclair,  when 
having  his  portrait  painted  by 
Sir  Benjamin  West,  was  so 
proud  of  a  letter  he  had  re- 
ceived from  General  Washing- 
ton, that  he  resolved  to  have 
it  painted  in  his  hand;  "and," 
said  the  Provost,  "those  who 
have  seen  the  General's  hand- 
writing will  have  no  difficulty 
scorr's  monument.  jn    r  eco  ^  n  iz  i  n  g    the    imitation; 

so  that  every  time  we  meet  in  this  hall  we  are  reminded  of 
your  country  and  of  one  of  your  most  distinguished  states- 
men, General  Washington,  the  first  President  of  the  United 
States."  This  address  was  enthusiastically  cheered.  General 
Grant  in  reply  said  : 

"  Mr.  Provost,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Royal  Burgh  of  Wick  : 
I  gladly  accept  the  honor  which  the  Town  Council  has  conferred  on  me  by  mak- 
ing me  a  burgess  of  this  burgh,  and  I  am  so  filled  with  emotion  by  the  address 
with  which  the  presentation  has  been  accompanied,  as  to  be  quite  unable  to  do 
justice  to  the  subjects  which  it  embraces."  (Cheers.)  "I  shall,  however,  en- 
deavor in  a  few  words  to  address  myself  to  these  subjects.  I  am  happy  to  saj 
that  during  the  eight  years  of  my  Presidency  it  was  a  hope  of  mine,  which  I  am 
glad  to  say  was  realized,  that  all  differences  between  the  two  nations  should  be 
settled  in  a  manner  honorable  to  both."  (Loud  cheers.)  "  All  the  questions,  I  am 


WICK. 


83 


glacl  to  say.  were  so  settled  " — (cheers) — "  and  in  my  desire  for  that  result,  it 
was  my  aim  to  do  what  was  right,  irrespective  of  any  other  consideration  what- 
ever." (Cheers.)  "  During  all  the  negotiations,  I  felt  the  importance  of  main- 
taining the  friendly  relations  between  the  great  English-speaking  people  of  this 
country  and  the  United  States,  which  I  believe  to  be  essential  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  peace  principles  throughout  the  world,  and  I  feel  confident  that  the 
continuance  of  those  relations  will  exercise  a  vast  influence  in  promoting  peace 
and  civilization  throughout  the  world."  (Great  applause.) 


rags-- 


EDINBURGH. 


On  the  13th  of  September,  General  Grant  visited  Glasgow. 
At  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day  he  was  presented 
with  the  freedom  of  the  city.  The  City  Hall,  one  of  the  largest 
public  buildings  in  Glasgow,  was  filled  with  spectators.  The 
bailiffs  attended  in  their  cocked  hats  and  furred  gowns.  Ex- 
actly at  three  o'clock  the  Lord  Provost  stepped  on  to  the  plat- 
form and  said  that  Grant  had  proved  himself  the  Wellington  of 
America.  "The  great  and  good  Lincoln,"  said  the  Provost, 
"  struck  down  the  upas  tree  of  slavery  ;  but  Grant  tore  it  up  by 
the   roots,  so  that  it  should  never  live    in   his  country  to  suck 


84 


ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 


nutriment  from  its  soil.  I  think  the  example  shown  by  the 
American  people  in  the  forgiveness  of  injuries,  and  in  their  de- 
sire to  live  amicably  with  those  who  had  been  their  enemies, 
presents  the  greatest  triumph  of  Christian  principle  and  prac- 
tice the  world  has  ever  seen.  In  other  countries,  what  crimes 
ol  vengeance  have  followed  on  revolutionary  wars  !  The  scaf- 
fold, the  galleys,  the 
fetid  swamps  of 
Cayenne,  or  the 
frozen  deserts  of  Si- 
beria, have  been  the 
fate  of  misguided 
patriots;  but  no 
such  thing  happen- 
ed in  America  when 
the  war  closed.  Not 
a  drop  of  blood 
was  spilled  in  ven- 
geance. North  and 
South  shook  hands,  agreed  to  decorate  together  the  graves  of 
their  dead,  and  to  go  on  as  one  nation — a  united  and  a  free 
people."  After  this  the  address  was  read.  In  it  the  Common 
Council  "admitted  and  received,  and  hereby  admit  and  receive, 
General  Ulysses  Simpson  Grant,  Ex-President  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  to  be  a  burgess  and  guild  brother  of  the  city 
and  royal  burgh  of  Glasgow,  in  recognition  of  his  distinguished 
abilities  as  a  statesman  and  administrator,  his  successful  efforts 
in  the  noble  work  of  emancipating  his  country  from  the  horrors 
of  slavery,  and  of  his  great  services  in  promoting  commerce  and 
amity  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain." 

This   address  was   received  with  enthusiasm.      In   replying 
General  Grant  said  : 


COWGATE,    EDINBURGH. 


"  I  rise  to  thank  you  for  the  great  honor  that  has  been  conferred  upon  me 
this  day  by  making  me  a  free  burgess  of  this  great  city  of  Glasgow.  The  honor 
is  one  that  I  shall  cherish,  and  I  shall  always  remember  this  day.  When  I  am 
back  in  my  own  country,  I  will  be  able  to  refer  with  pride  not  only  to  my  visit 
to  Glasgow,  but  to  all  the  different  towns  in  this  kingdom  that   I  have  had  the 


GLASGOW. 


85 


pleasure  and  the  honor  of  visiting."  (Applause.)  "I  find  that  lam  being 
made  so  much  a  citizen  of  Scotland,  it  will  become  a  serious  question  where 
I  shall  go  to  vote."  (Laughter  and  applause.)  "  You  have  railroads  and 
other  facilities  for  getting  from  one  place  to  another,  and  I  might  vote  fre- 
quently in  Scotland  by  starting  early.  I  do  not  know  how  you  punish  that 
crime  over  here  ;  it  is  a  crime  that  is  very  often  practiced  by  people  who  come 
to  our  country  and  become  citizens  there  by  adoption.  In  fact,  I  think  they 
give  the  majority  of  the  votes.  I  do  not  refer  to  Scotchmen  particularly,  but 
to  naturalized  citizens.  But  to  speak  more  seriously,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  I 
feel  the  honor  of  this  occasion,  and  I  beg  to  thank  you,  ladies  and  gentlemen 
of  this  city  of  Glasgow,  for  the  kind  words  of  your  Lord  Provost,  and  for  the 
kind  expression  of  this  audience." 

There  was  a  visit  to  Ayr  on  the  14th  of  September,  the  land 
and  home  of  Burns.  This  was  followed  by  a  tour  in  the  region 
of  Loch  Lomond,  and  a  visit  to  Inverary,  where  General  Grant 
was  the  guest  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle.  No  part  of  the  Ex- 
President's  tour  in  Scotland  pleased  him  more  than  his  visit  to 
this  illustrious  nobleman.  The  part  taken  by  the  Duke  of  Ar- 
gyle during  our  war,  his  unswerving  adhesion  to  the  cause  of 
the  North,  and  his  efforts  to  secure  for  America  in  her  strug-cde 
with  the  South  the  consideration  and  support  of  the  English 
people,  had  excited  in  the  General  a  high  feeling  of  gratitude. 
This  feeling  grew  to  one  of  sincere  friendship,  and  frequently 
during  our  journeys  in  Europe  the  General,  in  adverting  to  his 
Scotch  trip,  spoke  of  his  visit  to  Inverary  Castle  as  an  experi- 
ence he  would  never  forget,  and  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle  as  a 
nobleman  for  whom  he  entertained  the  highest  respect  and 
esteem. 

Perhaps  no  part  of  General  Grant's  reception  in  England 
was  so  strikine  as  the  short  tour  he  made  on  his  return  from 
Scotland  through  the  manufacturing-  districts  of  England.  His 
journey  embraced  Newcastle,  Sunderland,  Sheffield,  Birming- 
ham, with  excursions  to  Leamington,  Stratford-on-Avon,  War- 
wick, and  places  of  historic  interest.  It  was  here  that  the 
General  met  the  working  classes  of  England,  and  the  enthu- 
siasm which  his  visit  inspired  makes  it  impossible  almost  to 
bring;  it  within  the  limits  of  a  sober  narrative.  I  will,  however, 
confine  myself,  as  far  as  possible,  to  a  brief  recital  of  the  inci- 
dents of  the  trip,  and  the  demonstrations  of  welcome. 


g6  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

• 

On  Wednesday,  die  19th  of  September,  General  Grant  left 
Edinburgh  and  arrived  in  Newcastle  on  Thursday.  The  streets 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  central  station  were  filled  with  thou- 
sands of  people.  A  detachment  of  the  Newcastle  Rifle  Vol- 
unteers were  on  duty  to  preserve  order.  The  General,  on 
appearing  on  the  platform,  was  greeted  with  hearty  cheering, 
and  was  received  by  the  Mayor,  Sir  William  Armstrong,  and 
other  representatives  of  the  citizens  of  the  town.  The  houses 
and  shops  had  flags  waving  from  the  windows  and  roofs,  and 
the  bells  of  St.  Nicholas  rang  out  merrily.  General  and  Mrs. 
Grant  drove  to  the  Mansion  House,  and  in  response  to  loud 
cheers,  appeared  on  the  balcony.  In  the  evening  there  was  a 
dinner  with  Sir  William  Armstrong,  two  hundred  guests  pres- 
ent. On  Friday  morning,  the  21st  inst.,  came  sight-seeing. 
There  was  a  visit  to  the  old  castle,  to  the  ancient  church  of  St. 
Nicholas,  and  the  Exchange.  An  address  was  delivered  to 
General  Grant  by  the  vice-president,  council,  and  members  of 
the  Newcastle  and  Gateshead  Incorporated  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, which  referred  to  the  natural  riches  and  industries  of 
the  Tyne  district — iron  in  all  its  branches,  chemicals,  lead,  cop- 
per, earthenware,  fire-bricks,  colors,  and  coals.  "The  various 
branches  of  the  iron  trade,"  said  the  address,  "include  melting 
the  ore  into  pig  iron,  the  manufacture  of  all  kinds  of  wrought 
iron,  rails,  machines,  ordnance,  and  the  building  of  iron  vessels, 
for  which  our  river  is  famous.  The  shipment  of  coal  from  the 
town  exceeds  7,109,000  tons  per  annum,  and  the  number  of 
vessels  annually  leaving  the  river,  engaged  in  the  coal  trade, 
or  loaded  with  the  produce  of  our  manufactories,  is  larger  than 
the  number  leaving  any  other  port  in  the  world."  The  address 
alluded  to  this  rapid  increase  as  the  result  of  free  trade,  and 
expressed  a  regret  that  this  policy  had  not  been  more  gene- 
rally followed  by  other  nations.  The  General  in  his  response 
said : 

"  The  president  in  his  remarks  has  alluded  to  the  personal  friendship  exist- 
ing between  the  two  nations — I  will  not  say  the  two  peoples,  because  we  are 
one  people  "  (applause)  ;  "  but  we  are  two  nations  having  a  common  destiny, 
and  that  destiny  will  be  brilliant  in  proportion  to  the  friendship  and  co-opera- 


NEWCASTLE. 


87 


tion  of  the  brethren  on  the  two  sides  of  the  water."  (Applause.)  "  Duringmy 
eight  years  of  Presidency,  it  was  my  study  to  heal  up  all  the  sores  that  were 
existing  between  us."  (Applause.)  "That  healing  was  accomplished  in  a 
manner  honorable  to  the  nations."  (Applause.)  "From  that  day  to  this  feel- 
ings of  amity  have  been  constantly  growing,  as  I  think  ;  I  know  it  has  been  so 
on  our  side,  and  I  believe  never  to  be  disturbed  again.  These  are  two  nations 
which  ought  to  be  at  peace  with  each  other.  We  ought  to  strive  to  keep  at 
peace  with  all  the  world  besides"  (applause),  "  and  by  our  example  stop  those 
wars  which  have  devastated  our  own  countries,  and  are  now  devastating  some 
countries  in  Europe." 


Sl'RGH    CASTLE. 


After  the  reception  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  the  party 
drove  to  the  new  Tyne  Swing  Bridge,  which  was  opened  for  in- 
spection. The  company  then  embarked  on  board  the  steamer 
"  Commodore."  This  was  accompanied  by  another  steamer 
called  the  "  Lord  Collinowood,"  and  which  carried  from  one  to 
two  hundred  of  the  leading  inhabitants  of  the  borough.  The 
band  of  the  1st  Northumberland  Volunteer  Artillery  were  sta- 
tioned on  the  boat.  Shortly  after  one  o'clock  the  boats  left  the 
new  quay,  amid  the  cheers  of  thousands  of  spectators,  and  ran 
to  Wallsend.  The  weather  was  cold  but  fine,  and  the  river 
banks  were  crowded  with  workmen,  who  gave  a  noisy,  hearty 


88  ENGLAND  AND   SCOTLAND. 

welcome  to  the  Ex- President.  The  shipping  was  decorated 
with  streamers,  bunting,  and  flags.  There  was  a  firing  of  guns, 
mortars,  fog  signals,  and  every  species  of  instrument  that 
could  be  induced  to  make  a  noise.  The  General  stood  in  the 
bow  of  the  boat,  bowing  his  acknowledgments.  At  the  "  Welles- 
ley"  training-ship  there  was  a  short  pause  to  witness  the  dis- 
cipline. On  reaching  the  bar  the  Tyne  pier  was  examined,  and 
at  Tynemouth  the  General  disembarked.  An  address  was  here 
presented  to  the  General,  complimenting  him  on  his  sagacity 
and  valor  in  battle,  and  his  clemency  in  victory.  The  General 
said  that  he  had  seen  that  day  on  the  banks  of  the  Tyne  no 
fewer  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  people,  mostly  work- 
men, who  had  left  their  occupations  and  homes  to  manifest,  as 
he  felt  it,  their  friendship  for  their  grandchildren — he  would  not 
call  them  their  cousins — on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  He 
did  not  agree  with  the  Mayor  or  member  of  Parliament  who 
had  spoken,  in  referring  to  the  river  as  an  insignificant  one.  It 
was  true  in  America  they  had  some  large  streams,  but  their 
greatest  industries  were  carried  on  on  the  small  streams.  They 
had  not  one  stream  in  America  as  yet  that  could  show  the 
number  of  industrial  pursuits  that  the  Tyne  showed  between 
Newcastle  and  the  point  at  which  they  were  now  standing. 

After  this  address  there  was  a  trial  of  the  Life  Brigade — a 
force  maintained  at  Tyneside  to  save  life.  Two  or  three  life- 
boats were  manned  by  the  crews  and  floated  among  the  waves, 
which  were  dashing  heavily  against  the  pier.  Under  the  direc- 
tion of  their  captain  they  executed  the  motions  necessary  to  res- 
cue a  disabled  ship.  A  rocket  was  fired,  various  lines  were 
made  fast,  and  a  thick  hawser  was  fixed  from  the  battery  to  the 
west  end  of  the  pier  with  commendable  celerity.  The  whole 
operation  occupied  about  fifteen  minutes. 

On  the  2  2d  of  September,  a  demonstration  of  workingmen 
took  place  in  Newcastle.  The  importance  of  this  ceremony 
may  be  comprehended  from  the  fact  that  the  local  paper,  the; 
Newcastle  Chronicle,  the  next  morning,  devoted  twenty  columns 
to  a  report.  "  Not  since  the  great  demonstration  of  1873,"  says 
The  Chronicle,  "  has  the  grass  of  the  town  moor  been  covered 


TYNESIDE, 


89 


by  so  vast  an  assembly  around  a  platform,  as  that  to  receive  Gen- 
eral Grant.  It  was  estimated  that  no  less  than  eighty  thousand 
people  were  around  the  platform  while  Mr.  Burt,  M.P.,  read  the 
address."  It  was  dry,  the  air  cold  and  bracing,  and  every  way 
favorable  for  an  out-door  demonstration.  The  proposal  that  the 
laboring  men  should  do  honor  to  General  Grant  came  from  Mr. 
Burt,  in  a  letter  suggesting  that  the  Trades'  Councils  of  New- 
castle should  take  up  the  matter  and  secure  the  General  a  fitting 
reception.      From  an   early  hour  Newcastle  assumed  a  holiday 


aspect.  Crowds  came  in  by  railway  and  other  conveyances, 
from  all  parts  of  the  northern  country.  Every  spot  where  a 
view  could  be  obtained  was  crowded.  Stephenson's  Monument 
was  a  cluster  of  human  beings.  Walls,  cabs,  windows,  balconies, 
were  full.  The  fronts  of  the  town  buildings  and  other  edifices 
were  covered  with  American  and  British  flags  intertwined.  The 
flags  of  other  nations  were  displayed  from  their  respective  con- 
sulates. Trophies  of  Venetian  masts,  crossed  with  bannerets, 
illuminated  with  the  word  "Welcome,"  were  shown  in  different 
parts  of  the  town.  Thousands  of  pitmen  from  the  mines  of 
Northumberland,  their  wives  and  sweethearts,  came  to  join  the 
demonstration. 


q0  ENGLAND  AND   SCOTLAND. 

The  procession  was  composed  as  follows :  First  came  the 
Odd  Fellows,  then  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Tailors,  with 
a  banner  containing  a  picture  ot  Adam  and  Eve  driven  from  the 
Garden  of  Eden  ;  then  the  Newcastle  Branch  of  the  Secular 
Society,  carrying  the  flag  unfurled  by  the  British  volunteers  un- 
der Garibaldi ;  the  Operative  Painters,  with  a  picture  represent- 
ing the  breaking  of  the  chains  of  slavery,  with  the  inscription, 
"Welcome  to  the  Liberator;"  also  banners  bearing  the  por- 
traits of  John  Bright,  Joseph  Cowen,  and  Thomas  Burt.  Most 
of  the  banners  borne  by  the  painters  were  adorned  with  bunches 
of  fresh,  green  fern.  Then  came  the  Durham  Miners'  Associa- 
tion, carrying  a  blue  silk  banner,  bearing  a  design  which  repre- 
sented the  change  in  the  condition  of  pit-boys,  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  short  hours  of  labor ;  the  Hepworth  and  Ravensworth 
colliers,  carrying  a  blue  silk  banner,  representing  the  union 
of  capital  and  labor,  a  coal  owner  and  workman  in  friendly  con- 
versation, with  the  legend,  "Reason,  Truth,  and  Friendship;" 
the  Blaydon  Colliery,  with  the  inscription,  "The  Workman  is 
the  Pride  and  Stay  of  the  Country;  "  the  Pelaw  Union  Ward- 
ley  Colliery;  the  Urpeth  Colliery;  the  Kingston  Union  of  Odd 
Fellows.  Then  came  the  Northumberland  miners,  sixteen  dif- 
ferent collieries,  represented  by  their  banners  and  designs,  under 
marshals  and  captains,  each  colliery  with  its  own  band  ot  music. 
Some  of  these  banners  had  significant  emblems.  The  Seaton 
Burn  Collieries  had  the  following  lines  on  their  banner  : 

"No  gloss  or  coloring  will  avail, 
But  truth  and  justice  here  prevail  : 
'Tis  education  forms  the  youthful  mind, 
Just  as  the  twig  is  bent  the  tree's  inclined." 

Another  showed  a  figure  representing  emancipation,  and  die 
tree  of  union  in  full  bloom.  Another  banner,  of  blue  silk  with 
yellow  border,  contained  the  words,  "We  claim  manhood  suf- 
frage." 

After  the  miners  came  the  Newcastle  dock  laborers  and 
trimmers,  carrying  a  new  banner  of  blue  silk  with  crimson  bor- 
der, bearing  this  motto: 


NEWCASTLE. 


91 


"  A  golden  era  bursts  upon  the  world  : 
The  principle  of  right  shall  soon  prevail  : 
Meek  truth  and  justice  soon  shall  lift  their  heads, 
And  wrong  shall  sink  to  everlasting  night." 

Then   came   the   Hammermen's   Society,  the   Plumbers,  the 
Household   Furnishers,  anil   the  Tanners  of  Elswiek.      The  lat- 


ter  carried   a   banner  bearing  these  words: 


Welcome   back, 


General  Grant,  from  Arms  to  Arts,"  "  Let  us  have  Peace," 
"Nothing  like  Leather."  The  Masons,  the  Independent  Order 
of  Mechanics,  the 
Newcastle  Brass 
Moulders  and  Fin- 
ishers, the  Tyne 
District  Carpenters 
and  Joiners,  and  the 
Mill  Sawyers  and 
Machinists  followed. 
The  Sawyers  car- 
ried a  banner  with 
these  words:  "Wel- 
come, General 
Grant,  to  New- 
castle.    Tyneside 

rejoices  to  see  thee.  Welcome,  Hero  of  Freedom."  The 
United  Chainmakers'  Association  finished  the  procession.  These 
workmen  marched  in  good  order  like  battalions  of  soldiers. 
There  was  no  disturbance  of  the  peace,  and  a  few  policemen 
only  kept  the  line.  It  was  a  moving  stream  of  red  and  blue 
banners,  and  badges,  and  insignia. 

The  General  rode  in  the  procession  to  the  town  moor,  rap- 
turous cheering  attending  him  until  he  reached  the  platform,  at 
half-past  three  o'clock.  As  the  General  advanced  to  the  front 
of  the  platform,  "  the  cheers  of  the  crowd,"  says  the  Newcastle 
Chronicle,  "  could  be  heard  at  St.  Thomas's  Church,  nearly  a 
mile  distant.  The  Mayor  opened  the  proceedings  by  asking 
the  crowd  to  keep  good  order.  Mr.  Burt,  M.P.,  then  advanced 
and  presented  the  address.      In  doing  this  he  said  that  the  pro- 


92  ENGLAND  AND   SCOTLAND. 

longed  civil  war  which  raged  in  America  excited  the  greatest 
anxiety  and  interest  among  the  workpeople  of  the  North. 
"  Never,"  he  said,  "  was  there  a  war  in  which  English  armies 
were  not  employed  that  went  so  directly  to  the  popular  feeling. 
This  was  not  merely  because  their  kinsmen  were  in  mortal 
combat;  but  because  it  was  a  battle  for  great  principles.  It 
was  not  a  war  for  conquest,  for  selfish  aggrandisement,  or  for 
the  propping  up  of  a  tottering  throne  ;  but  it  involved  the  great 
questions  of  freedom,  of  the  rights  of  man,  and  the  dignity  and 
honor  of  labor."  Mr.  Burt  then  congratulated  America  on  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  upon  the  pacific  tenor  of  General  Grant's 
administration,  and  upon  the  settlement  of  the  Alabama  Claims 
as  one  of  the  grandest  moral  victories  ever  achieved  by  states- 
manship. "  When  the  history  of  the  nineteenth  century  comes 
to  be  written,"  said  Mr.  Burt,  "one  of  its  brightest  pages  will 
be  that  which  tells  how  two  of  the  greatest  and  most  valor- 
ous nations  of  the  world  settled  their  differences  by  arbitra- 
tion rather  than  by  an  appeal  to  the  power  of  armies."  Mr. 
Burt  concluded  by  saying  that  the  working  people  regretted 
that  so  much  of  the  wealth,  energy,  and  intellect  of  the  world 
were  devoted  to  destructive  purposes.  "  These  huge  standing 
armies,"  he  said,  "  are  a  menace  to  peace,  and  a  constant  drain 
on  the  life  and  resources  of  nations.  In  the  face  of  these 
armies  the  two  great  branches  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  have 
before  them  a  noble  mission.  If  England  and  America,  acting 
on  the  wise  counsels  so  well  given  by  you  yesterday  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  strive  not  only  to  keep 
peace  between  themselves,  but  also  to  keep  at  peace  with  other 
nations,  they  will  set  an  example  that  was  never  more  needed 
than  now,  and  that  will  be  rich  in  benefits  to  the  whole  world  in 
all  coming  time."  Then  Mr.  Burt  read  the  address,  which  was 
handsomely  bound  and  engrossed,  as  follows: 

"  General  :  In  the  name  of  the  working  classes  of  Northumberland  and 
Durham,  we  welcome  you  to  Tyneside,  and  we  are  proud  of  the  opportunity 
afforded  us  of  expressing  to  you  our  admiration  for  the  noble  deeds  which  have 
made  you  famous  in  the  history  of  your  country,  and  the  welcome  guest  of 
Englishmen. 


NEirc.isn./-:. 


93 


"  At  the  outbreak  of  the  American  civil  war,  when  called  upon  by  your 
country  to  defend  its  honor  and  wipe  from  its  character  the  stain  of  slavery, 
we  are  mindful  that  you  entered  upon  that  work  with  prompt  zeal  and  unfail- 
ing fortitude  ;  and  we  are  sensible  that  the  courage  which  sustained  you  during 
that  dark  period  of  American  history,  was  not  the  courage  which  enables  a 
soldier  merely  to  face  death,  but  that  nobler  courage  which  springs  from  a  con- 
sciousness of  duty. 

"  In  those  hard-fought  battles,  in  which  your  great  abilities  as  a  soldier 
were  displayed,  and  which  won  for  you  the  absolute  confidence  of  that  pure 
and  noble-minded  martyr,  Abraham  Lincoln,  you  had  the  entire  sympathy  of 


the  working  classes  of  England  ;  and  we  are  all  the  more  proud  on  that  account 
in  honoring  you  to-day  as  a  faithful  and  distinguished  son  of  America — a 
splendid  soldier  and  a  wise  and  prudent  statesman. 

"  Though  you  are  skilled  in  the  art  of  war,  we  are  pleased  to  regard  you  as 
a  man  of  peace  ;  but  the  peace  which  commands  your  sympathy  must  be 
founded  on  the  eternal  laws  of  equity  and  justice.  The  rough  scenes  of  war 
have  no  charms  for  you  ;  but  we  believe  if  duty  called  you  would  be  ready 
to  strike  again  for  the  consecration  of  noble  principles. 

"  General  !  you  are  imperishably  associated  with  the  glorious  issue  of  the 
American  civil  war,  and  posterity  will  assign  you  a  conspicuous  place  on  the 
roll  of  the  world's  heroes.  Mankind  will  not  forget  that  you  have  caused  the 
'  Stars  and  Stripes  '  to  float  more  proudly  than  ever  over  the  Republic,  and 


94  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

we  rejoice  to  know  that  our  kinsmen  have  testified  their  gratitude  by  twice 
electing  you  to  the  highest  office  in  the  United  States.  We,  who  are  bound  to 
them  by  a  relationship  which  no  circumstances  can  sever,  join  them  in  a  grate- 
ful recognition  of  your  services. 

"  Again,  we  welcome  you  as  a  most  successful  statesman,  in  whose  custody 
the  honor  and  interests  of  a  noble  nation  were  safely  intrusted. 

"  The  onerous  duties  which  devolved  upon  you  on  your  accession  to  the 
Presidency  of  the  United  States  could  not  have  been  so  ably  discharged  had 
you  possessed  less  coolness,  courage,  and  tenacity  of  purpose  ;  and  we  greet 
you  with  sincere  esteem  for  pursuing  a  conciliatory  and  peaceful  policy  toward 
this  country,  especially  during  the  consideration  of  the  difficulties  between 
England  and  America. 

"  The  terrible  consequences  which  might  have  resulted  to  both  countries 
had  you  adopted  a  hostile  policy  are  harrowing  to  contemplate,  and  we  are  glad 
to  know  that  you  so  largely  contributed  to  the  preservation  of  peace  and  the 
amicable  settlement  of  the  Alabama  question. 

"  History  will  chronicle  the  proceeding  at  Geneva  as  a  grand  achievement 
of  civilization,  and  with  it,  you,  General,  will  ever  be  identified.  In  favoring 
the  principle  of  international  arbitration  you  have  earned  the  applause  of  the  civil- 
ized world,  and  we  readily  acknowledge  the  great  blessings  which  that  mode  of 
settling  the  difficulties  of  nations  has  already  conferred  on  your  country  and  ours. 

"  It  has  cemented  us  more  firmly  together  in  the  bonds  of  peace  and  friend- 
ship, and  we  are  sure  that  no  one  is  more  desirous  than  yourself  that  the  people 
of  England  and  America,  who  are  of  one  blood,  and  whose  interests  are  identi- 
cal, should  draw  more  closely  together,  so  that  the  future  history  of  the  two 
nations  may  be  one  of  unbroken  concord. 

"  And  now.  General,  in  our  final  words  we  greet  you  as  a  sincere  friend  of 
labor.  Having  attested  again  and  again  your  deep  solicitude  for  the  industrial 
classes,  and  having  also  nobly  proclaimed  the  dignity  of  labor  by  breaking  the 
chains  of  the  slave,  you  are  entitled  to  our  sincere  and  unalloyed  gratitude  ; 
and  our  parting  wish  is,  that  the  general  applause  which  you  have  received  in 
your  own  country,  and  are  now  receiving  in  this,  for  the  many  triumphs  which 
you  have  so  gloriously  achieved,  may  be  succeeded  by  a  peaceful  repose,  and 
that  the  sunset  of  your  life  may  be  attended  with  all  the  blessings  that  this  earth 
can  afford. 

"  General  !  we  beg  your  acceptance  of  this  address  as  a  testimony  of  the 
high  regard  and  admiration  in  which  you  are  held  among  the  working  people 
of  Northumberland  and  Durham." 

General  Grant,  who  was  received  with  the  most  enthusiastic 
cheering,  then  replied  as  follows: 

"Mr.  Burt  and  Workingmen  :  Through  you,  I  will  return  thanks  to  the 
workingmen  of  Tyneside  for  the  very  a<  i  eptable  welcome  address  which  you 
have  just  read.     I   accept  from  that  class  of  people  the  reception  which   they 


T\  XESIDE. 


95 


have  accorded  me,  as  among  the  most  honorable.  We  all  know  that  but  for 
labor  we  would  have  very  little  that  is  worth  fighting  for,  and  when  wars  do 
come,  they  fall  upon  the  many,  the  producing  class,  who  are  the  sufferers. 
They  not  only  have  to  furnish  the  means  largely,  but  they  have,  by  their  labor 
and  industry,  to  produce  the  means  for  those  who  are  engaged  in  destroying 
and  not  in  producing.  I  was  always  a  man  of  peace,  and  I  have  always  advo- 
cated peace,  although  educated  a  soldier.  I  never  willingly,  although  I  have 
gone  through  two  wars,  of  my  own  accord  advocated  war."  (Loud  cheers.) 
"  I  advocated  what  I  believed  to 
be  right,  and  I  have  fought  for  it 
to  the  best  of  my  ability  in  order 
that  an  honorable  peace  might  be 
secured.  You  have  been  pleased 
to  allude  to  the  friendly  relations 
existing  between  the  two  great 
nations  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic.  They  are  now  most 
friendly,  and  the  friendship  has 
been  increasing.  Our  interests  are 
so  identified,  we  are  so  much  re- 
lated to  each  other,  that  it  is  my 
sincere  hope,  and  it  has  been  the 
sincere  hope  of  my  life,  and  es- 
pecially of  my  official  life,  to 
maintain  that  friendship.  I  enter- 
tain views  of  the  progress  to  be 
made  in  the  future  by  the  union 
and  friendship  of  the  great  Eng- 
lish-speaking people,  for  I  believe 
that  it  will  result  in  the  spread  of 
our  language,  our  civilization,  and 

our  industry,  and  be  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  generally.'  (Cheers.)  "  I  do 
not  know,  Mr.  Burt,  that  there  is  anything  more  for  me  to  say,  except  that  I 
would  like  to  communicate  to  the  people  whom  I  see  assembled  before  me  here 
this  day  how  greatly  I  feel  the  honor  which  they  have  conferred  upon  me." 
(Cheers.) 

The  ceremonies  were  brought  to  a  close  by  General  Fair- 
child,  Consul  at  Liverpool,  who  had  lost  an  arm  during  our 
war,  speaking  as  an  American  citizen,  and  thanking  the  multi- 
tude for  "  their  magnificent  reception  of  our  great  chief,  Gene- 
ral Grant."  The  General  reviewed  the  multitude  and  the  pro- 
cession as  it  passed  along,  and  the  proceedings  terminated  with 
three  cheers  for  the  General  and  one  for  Mrs.  Grant. 


STEPHEN-SONS     MONUMENT. 


96 


ENGLAND  AND   SCOTLAND. 


Perhaps  I  can  clo  no  better  than  give  the  description  of  the 
scene  as  I  found  it  in  the  columns  of  the  Chronicle:  "  A  few  min- 
utes to  four  o'clock  a  general  craning  of  necks  and  faint  strains 
of  music  in  the  distance  heralded  the  advance  of  the  procession. 
Everybody  tried  to  look  over  everybody's  shoulder,  and  the  un- 
regenerate  boot  which  always  selects  that  precise  moment  to  im- 
press upon  its  neighbor's  foot  the  fact  that  man  is  a  pedal  animal, 
commenced  its  vocation.  A  swingeing  cheer  swept  up  the  turn- 
pike and  round  the  corner  of  the  Bull  Park,  firing  like  a  train 


INV'ERARV    CASTLE. 


of  cartridges  the  whole  of  the  crowd  up  to  the  platform.  '  He 
was  coming,'  that  was  enough.  So  everybody  cheered  again, 
and  got  its  lungs  into  lustiest  order,  ready  for  the  time  when 
the  procession  should  actually  arrive  and  the  first  captain  of 
the  Republic  be  visible.  Like  some  long  nondescript  monster, 
with  a  dorsal  fin  of  variegated  colors,  the  procession  slowly 
wormed  its  way  up  from  the  road  in  the  direction  of  the  plat- 
form. Banners  flapped  as  banners  only  do  flap  when  there  is 
not  only  something  in  the  wind,  but  something  in  men's  hearts  as 
well.  Brass  bands  did  their  best  to  rise  to  the  height  of  a  great 
occasion,  and  magnify  the  dignity  both  of  Apollo  and  of  Mars. 


NEWCASTLE.  g~ 

The  big  drum — and  there  might  be  a  score  in  the  procession — 
which  ma)-  always  be  depended  upon  to  raise  enthusiasm  to 
fever  heat,  led  off  gusty  rounds  of  cheers,  which  finally  eddied 
and  swirled  in  splendid  vociferousness.  The  first  section  of  the 
procession  halted  at  the  east  end  of  the  platform.  On  any 
other  occasion,  perhaps,  the  silver  emblems  of  all  the  Christian 
graces  carried  by  the  National  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows would  have  excited  attention  ;  but  the  top  of  the  Mayor's 
carriage  could  be  seen,  and  in  a  minute  or  two  a  vision  of  plush 
breeches  and  a  confused  rush  told  that  the  General  had  arrived. 
At  this  moment  the  crowd,  with  the  adroitness  which  is  always 
the  mark  of  genius,  and  having  waited  until  the  General  was  on 
the  field  to  appreciate  the  boldness  of  their  campaign,  executed 
a  flank  movement  into  the  reserved  square  in  front  of  the  plat- 
form. They  had  been,  not  ill-naturedly  though,  chafing  for 
hours  at  the  idea  of  having  the  whole  front  of  the  proceedings 
partially  hidden  from  them  by  a  forest  of  banners  ;  and  once  the 
attention  of  the  police  was  directed  to  the  arrival  of  the  visitor 
of  the  day,  they  made  a  dash  for  the  coveted  position.  As  help- 
less as  straws  in  a  storm  tide,  the  few  policemen  on  duty  were 
carried  forward  with  the  first  lines  of  the  crowd.  For  an  in- 
stant, perhaps  two,  these  front  ranks  were  alone  in  the  open. 
Then  with  flattering  unanimity  of  imitation,  which  always  ani- 
mates that  acute  observer  the  public,  forty  thousand  brains  were 
struck  by  the  thought  that  the  nearer  the  platform  the  better 
the  sight.  Like  the  bursting  of  floodgates,  away  the  mighty 
masses  of  faces  came  on,  three  huge  and  solid  banks,  rather 
than  waves  of  humanity,  reeling  in  front  of  the  platform  with  a 
good,  thorough,  old-fashioned  crush. 

"And  sooth  to  say  it  was  a  crush.  From  here  and  there 
in  the  fierce  press  came  the  shouts  and  screams  of  frightened 
lads,  whose  faces,  reaching  no  higher  than  the  waistcoat  pockets 
of  their  fathers,  were  perforce  pressed  into  that  accommodat- 
ing, but  not  the  less  suffocating,  part  of  the  mortal  temple 
which  the  monks  of  Mount  Athos  considered  the  center  of  feel- 
ing. Still  good-naturedly,  although  butted  in  a  manner  not 
conducive  to  assist  digestion,  a  general  effort  was  made  by  the 
7 


98 


ENGLAND   AND  SCOTLAND. 


men  to  extricate  the  youngsters.  They  were  at  once,  with  sun- 
dry rips  in  sundry  coats,  hauled  up  from  their  unseen  position 
and  literally  rolled  over  the  heads  of  the  crowd,  to  be  finally 
dropped  clown  inside  a  railed-off  space  in  front  of  the  platform, 
where  stout  barriers  kept  off  the  crush.  By  this  time  every- 
body was  fully  occupied,  partly  in  cheering",  partly  in  protect- 
ing their  ribs  from  the  pressure  of  the  crowd,  partly  in  helping 
to  bundle  these  living  bales  over  to  the  platform,  but  chiefly  in 
taking  a  good  long  inspection  of  the  General.  Looking  as 
much  like  an  ordinary  Tyneside  skipper  as  possible,  open- 
browed,  firm-faced,  bluff,  honest,  and  unassuming,  everybody  at 
once  settled  in  his  own  mind  that  the  General  would  do.  The 
cheers  became  warmer  and  warmer  as  that  quiet,  strong,  thor- 
oughly British  face  grew  upon  them  ;  and  as  they  increased, 
General  Grant,  who  had  at  first  merely  touched  his  hat  to  the 
multitude,  bared  his  head,  as  an  unmistakable  everybody-joins- 
in-it  'Hurra'  roared  out  from  fifty  thousand  throats,  and  rat- 
tled up  to  the  astonished  birds  circling  overhead.  But  business 
is  business,  even  in  demonstrations,  and  must  be  attended  to. 
The  Mayor  waits  to  open  proceedings,  General  Grant  to  the 
right  of  him,  and  Mr.  Burt  to  the  left.  Behind  and  around  the 
three,  who  occupy  the  middle  of  the  platform,  are  grouped  the 
friends  and  leaders  of  industrial  Northumberland  and  Durham; 
faces  which  have  been  familiar  to  the  workers  of  the  North  for 
the  last  quarter  of  a  century.  Since  the  General  first  arrived  a 
wonderful  increase  has  taken  place  in  the  crowd,  which  now 
extends  far  on  either  side  of  the  platform,  stretching  away  in 
front  of  it  to  a  point  where  even  the  voice  of  Hector  would  be 
unheard.  Only  part  of  the  band  has  nearly  reached  the  posi- 
tion intended  for  the  section  it  is  connected  with,  and  apparently 
the  little  knot  of  crimson  tunics  wish  themselves  well  out  of  the 
squeeze.  One  hapless  individual,  burdened  with  the  care  of  a 
French  horn  big  enough  to  do  duty  for  a  monster  cornucopia, 
is  at  his  wits'  end  to  preserve  his  own  bones  and  those  of  his  in- 
strument. Finally  he  lifts  it  on  his  shoulder,  the  mouth  point- 
ing toward  the  platform,  and  looking  like  a  cross  between  the 
brass  trunk  of  a  metal  mammoth  and  a  novel  weapon  of  war. 


NEWCASTLE. 


99 


The  unfortunate  processionists,  elbowed  so  summarily  out  of 
their  places,  have  been  meantime  seeking  to  establish  themselves 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd,  where,  to  tell  the  truth,  they  are 
far  better  situated  than  ii  they  had  occupied  the  places  originally 
intended  for  them.  Their  banners,  disposed  partially  around 
one  side  of  the  crowd,  have  a  particularly  pretty  effect,  hemming 
in  the  scene  with  a  zone  of  color.  Behind,  in  the  far  distance, 
may  be  seen,  rising  through  the  gray  smoke,  Newcastle's  spires 


NEWCASTLE. 


and  steeples.  Beyond  these  the  dark  hills  of  Gateshead  close 
round,  looking,  as  they  seem  to  drop  down  in  the  soft  shadow  and 
undulation  from  the  long  bar  of  sunlight  stretched,  a  golden  rod, 
above  them,  as  if  they  were  hung,  a  stupendous  curtain,  worked 
with  raised  broidery  of  houses  and  churches. 

"  But  the  Mayor  has  commenced  to  speak,  and  following 
him  comes  Mr.  Burt.  The  crowd,  which  has  not  got  over  the 
excitement  yet,  keeps  up  a  loud  hum,  varied,  though  it  cannot 
hear  a  word  of  what  is  said,  with  occasional  cheers,  by  way  of 
expressing  its  conviction  that  the  member  for  Morpeth  is  saying 
the  right  thing  in  the  right  place.  When  Mr.  Burt  takes  the 
blue-bound  address  in  his  hand  they  cheer  it,  and  break  out  into 


iOO 


ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 


still  more  sonorous  exclamations  when  General  Grant  receives 
that  expression  of  the  interest  Tyneside  labor  has  taken  in  his 
visit.  The  last  of  the  procession,  however,  has  not  yet  arrived 
on  the  ground,  and  the  music  of  distant  bands,  swelling  in  with 
the  restless  stir  of  the  crowd,  prevents  any  but  a  few  on  the  plat- 
form from  ex- 
pecting to  hear 
what  reply  the 
Ex -President 
will  make. 
Seeing  the 
state  of  matters 
he  addresses 
himself  to  the 
reporters,  de- 
livering, for 
h  i  m  ,  a  n  u  n  - 
usually  long 
speech,  and 
speaking  with 
an  evident 
feeling  which 
shows  that  the 
crowd,  as  is 
nearly  always 
the  case  with 
men  who  have 
handled  large 
bodies  of  men, 
has  touched  his 

sympathies.  The  vast  concourse,  still  rushing  up  from  the 
turnpike,  and  which  now  musters  at  least  eighty  to  a  hundred 
thousand,  estimate  the  unheard  speech  after  their  own  thoughts, 
and  applaud  every  now  and  again  with  might  and  main.  When 
the  General  finishes,  everybody  who  has  not  yet  shouted  feels 
it  incumbent  to  begin  at  once,  and  those  who  have  bellowed 
themselves  hoarse  make  themselves  still  hoarser  in  their  en- 


ADDKE-SS   AT  NEWCASTLE. 


NEWCASTLE.  IOI 

deavors  to  come  up  to  the  demands  of  the  situation.  Hats  are 
waved  with  a  self-sacrificing  obliviousness  to  the  affection  sub- 
sisting between  crown  and  brim  which  is  beautiful  to  witness. 
And  right  in  the  center  of  the  crowd,  little  shining  rivulets 
glistening  on  his  ebony  cheeks,  and  his  face  glowing  with  in- 
tense excitement,  the  whole  soul  within  him  shining  out  through 
his  sable  skin  like  a  red-hot  furnace  seen  through  a  dark  cur- 
tain, stands  a  negro,  devouring  Grant  with  agaze  of  such  fervid 
admiration  and  respect  and  gratitude  that  it  flashes  out  the 
secret  of  the  great  liberator's  popularity." 

In  the  evening  there  was  a  banquet  at  the  Assembly  Rooms, 
the  Mayor  ot  Newcastle  occupying  the  chair.  In  response  to 
the  toast  of  the  evening  the  General  said  : 

"Mr.  Mayor  and  Corporation  of  Newcastle  :  I  scarcely  know  how  to 
respond  to  what  has  been  said  by  the  Mayor.  I  have  a  very  vivid  recollection 
that  immediately  upon  my  arrival  upon  these  shores  the  Mayor  invited  me  up 
here,  and  we  have  been  carrying  on  a  correspondence,  directly  and  indirectly, 
ever  since  as  to  the  time  when  I  should  be  here.  But  as  to  my  saying  anything 
after  I  came,  such  a  thing  never  occurred  to  me."  (Laughter.)  "I  will  say 
that  the  entertainment  by  your  worthy  Mayor  has  exceeded  my  expectations. 
I  have  had  no  better  reception  in  any  place,  nor  do  I  think  it  possible  to 
have  a  better."  (Cheers.)  "All  I  have  seen  since  I  have  been  on  the  Tyne 
has  been  to  me  most  gratifying  as  an  individual,  and  I  think  when  I  go  back 
to  my  own  country  I  will  find  that  it  has  been  very  gratifying  to  my  country- 
men to  hear  of  it.  It  has  been  gratifying  all  along  the  Tyne  to  Tynemouth. 
It  has  been  gratifying  ever  since  my  landing  upon  English  soil.  It  has  been 
gratifying  because  I  have  seen  that  which  is  extremely  pleasant,  namely  the 
good  relationship  existing,  that  should  always  exist,  between  English-speaking 
people."  (Applause.)  "I  think  that  is  a  matter  of  the  vastest  importance, 
because  I  believe  that  we  have  the  blessing  of  civilization  to  extend.  I  do  not 
want  to  detract  from  other  civilizations  ;  but  I  believe  that  we  possess  the 
highest  civilization.  There  is  the  strongest  bond  of  union  between  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking people,  and  that  bond  should  and  will  serve  to  extend  the  greatest 
good  to  the  greatest  number.     That  will  always  be  my  delight." 

Mr.  Cowen,  M.P.,  responded  to  the  toast  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  in  the  course  of  his  speech  he  said  "  that  New- 
castle honored  General  Grant  as  a  man,  and  welcomed  him  as 
representing  that  great,  free,  and  friendly  nation,  that  Younger 
Britain  on  the  other  side  of  the  broad  Atlantic."     (Applause.) 


IQ2  ENGLAND   AND  SCOTLAND. 

"  In  the  days  of  his  country's  dangers  and  trials  he  nobly  did  his 
duty.  His  highest  honor  was,  that  during  the  darkest  hour  he 
did  not  despair  of  the  Republic.  General  Grant's  achievements 
would  fill  a  large  and  glowing  page  in  the  history  of  his  native 
land,  and  no  inconsiderable  one  in  the  history  of  our  times.  His 
position  as  a  soldier  and  a  statesman  was  fixed,  and  there  was 
not  now  time,  and  this  was  not  the  occasion,  to  dilate  on  it.  He 
had  won  the  confidence  of  his  contemporaries  and  secured  the 
encomiums  of  posterity.  The  world  had  often  spoken  with  ad- 
miration of  his  valor  and  his  resolution — of  his  courage  and 
ability.  He  had  no  wish  to  underrate  or  overlook  these  vir- 
tues ;  but  to-night  he  would  speak  of  his  modesty  and  magna- 
nimity.  He  knew  of  nothing  more  touching  than  the  gentleness 
with  which  General  Grant  conveyed  a  necessary,  but  at  the 
same  time  a  hasty  and  unpleasant  command,  from  the  Ameri- 
can War  Minister  to  his  brave  companion-in-arms,  General 
Sherman,  nor  more  generous  than  his  dignified  treatment  ol 
the  vanquished  Confederate  captain — a  foeman  worthy  of  his 
steel.  These  actions  reminded  us  of  the  fabled  days  of  chi- 
valry. The  only  incident  in  modern  warfare  to  be  compared 
to  them  was  the  conduct  of  our  own  manly  Outram  toward  the 
gallant  Havelock  on  the  eve  of  the  fate  of  Lucknow.  On  the 
questions  involved  in  the  great  conflict  in  which  our  illustrious 
guest  played  so  decisive  a  part,  there  were  wide  differences  of 
opinion  amongst  us.  We  all  followed  his  career  with  interest 
and  with  admiration — many  of  us,  most  of  us  in  this  district, 
with  sympathy.  The  different  views  existing  in  English  soci- 
ety  found  memorable  expression  on  two  occasions  in  Newcastle. 
In  the  midst  of  the  war,  at  a  banquet  in  our  town  hall,  Earl 
Russell  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  North  was  fighting  for 
empire  and  the  South  for  independence.  Mr.  Gladstone,  the 
year  after,  in  the  same  place  and  on  a  like  occasion,  declared 
that  the  South  had  made  an  army,  were  making  a  navy,  and 
would  make  a  nation.  He  referred  to  these  statements  not  for 
the  purpose  of  reviving  a  long-forgotten  and  exhausted  contro- 
versy, nor  with  the  object  of  pointing  out  that  the  '  common 
people,'  when  great  principles  were  at  stake,  were  often   right 


NEWCASTLE. 


103 


when  statesmen,  who  took  a  technical  view  of  the  struggle, 
were  in  error.  But  he  recalled  the  circumstances  because  it  was 
but  meet  that  the  people  of  Tyneside,  who  did  not  share  the 
sentiments  of  these  two  Liberal  statesmen,  should  seize  the 
opportunity  of  a  visit  from  the  great  Republican  commander 
to  '  cull  out  a  holiday,'  to  climb  to  walls  and  battlements,  to 
towers  and  windows,  to  qreet  the  man  who  fought  and  won  the 
greatest  fight   for   human   freedom   that  this  century  had  seen. 


GREY    STREET    AND   GREY    MONUMENT,    NEWCASTLE. 


Lord  Russell,  with  characteristic  courage  and  candor,  not  long 
after  he  made  his  speech  in  Newcastle,  declared  that  he  had 
misapprehended  the  objects  of  the  American  war,  and  acknowl- 
edged he  had  been  wrong  in  the  views  he  had  entertained. 
Mr.  Gladstone  was  scarcely  so  ready  and  frank  with  his  recan- 
tation, but  he  also  ultimately  confessed  that  he  had  not  under- 
stood the  purposes  of  the  Republican  leaders.  He  trusted  that 
General  Grant's  visit  to  this  country  would  prevent  a  repetition 
of  such  misconceptions,  would  help  to  draw  still  closer  the 
bonds   of  unity  between   America  and   England,   and   tend   to 


l0A  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

prevent  the  bellicose  spirits  in  both  nations  plunging  us  into 
suffering  and  confusion  for  the  gratification  of  unworthy  and 
antagonistic  passions.  Our  common  interests  were  peace. 
We  were  streams  from  the  same  fountain — branches  from  the 
same  tree.  We  sprang  from  the  same  race,  spoke  the  same 
language,  were  moved  by  the  same  prejudices,  animated  by  the 
same  hopes  ;  we  sang  the  same  songs,  cherished  the  same  liberal 
political  principles,  and  we  were  imbued  with  the  conviction 
that  we  had  a  common  destiny  to  fulfill  among  the  children  of 
men.  We  were  bound  by  the  treble  ties  of  interest,  duty,  and 
affection  to  live  together  in  concord.  A  war  between  America 
and  England  would  be  a  war  of  brothers.  It  would  be  a 
household  martyrdom  only  less  disastrous  than  war  between 
Northumberland  and  Middlesex.  The  pioneers  of  the  Repub- 
lic— the  Pilgrim  Fathers — were  pre-eminently  English.  It  was 
because  they  were  so  that  they  emigrated.  They  left  us 
because  England  in  that  day  had  ceased  to  be  England  to 
them.  They  went  in  the  assertion  of  the  individual  right  of 
private  judgment  and  the  national  right  of  liberty  and  con- 
science. They  carved  out  for  themselves  a  new  home  in  the 
wilderness,  into  which  they  carried  all  the  industrial  charac- 
teristics and  intellectual  enerq-ies  of  the  mother  land.  Thev 
did  not  leave  us  when  England  was  in  her  infancy.  Our  na- 
tional character  was  consolidated  before  they  went,  and  Shakes- 
peare and  Milton  and  Bacon,  and  all  the  great  men  of  the 
Elizabethan  era,  were  not  only  figuratively  but  literally  as  much 
their  countrymen  as  ours.  They  repudiated  the  rule  oi  the 
English  king,  but,  as  they  themselves  declared,  they  never 
closed  their  partnership  in  the  English  Parnassus.  They  would 
not  own  the  authority  of  our  corrupt  court,  but  they  bowed 
before  the  majesty  of  our  literary  chiefs.  They  emigrated  from 
Stuart  tyranny,  but  not  from  the  intellectual  and  moral  glories 
of  our  philosophers  and  poets,  any  more  than  from  the  sun- 
shine and  dews  of  heaven.  These  literary  ties  had  been  ex- 
tended and  strengthened  by  years.  The  names  of  Longfellow 
and  Lowell,  Bryant  and  Whittier,  were  as  much  household 
words  with  us  as  those  of  Campbell   and   Coleridge,  Byron  and 


NEWCASTLE. 


I05 


Burns,  Dickens  and  Thackeray.  Bulwer  and  Jerrold  wrote  as 
much  for  America  as  for  England.  The  works  of  Hawthorne 
and  Cooper,  Emerson  and  Irving-,  came  to  us  across  the  sea 
bathed  in  the  fragrance  ot  their  boundless  prairies,  redolent  of 
the  freshness  of  their  primeval  pine  forests,  and  were  read  and 
admired  as  warmly  on  the  banks  of  the  Tyne  and  the  Thames 
as  on  the  shores  of  the  Potomac  and  the  Mississippi.  But  in 
addition  to  the  intellectual,  there  were  strong  material  ties  inter- 
twining the  two  nations.      When   the  United  States  ceased  to 


TYNEMOUTH. 


be  part  of  the  English  dominions,  an  increased  commercial 
intercourse  sprang  up  between  us.  Coincident  with  the  close 
of  the  American  War  of  Independence,  the  ingenuity  and  skill 
of  our  countrymen  led  to  the  discovery  of  those  great  mechani- 
cal inventions  which  produced  the  cotton  trade.  While  the 
spindles  of  the  Lancashire  mill-owners  had  been  weaving  wealth 
for  themselves  and  power  for  their  country,  they  had  bound  in 
a  web  of  interest  and  good-will  the  American  planter  and  mer- 
chant and  the  English  manufacturer  and  workman.  They 
trusted  that  when  their  distinguished  truest  returned  home,  he 


I06  ENGLAND   AND  SCOTLAND. 

would  assure  his  fellow  countrymen  that  there  was,  amongst 
men  of  all  classes,  sects,  and  parties  in  England,  only  one  feel- 
ing toward  America,  and  that  was  one  of  friendship — that  we 
had  only  one  rivalry  with  her,  and  that  was  to  excel  in  the  arts 
of  peace  and  the  works  of  civilization.''  I  print  this  part  of 
Mr.  Cowen's  speech  because  it  gives  a  fair  idea  of  the  feeling 
of  the  people  of  Newcastle  toward  the  United  States.  At  the 
close  of  this  reception,  General  Grant  drove  to  Hesley  Side, 
and  spent  the  Sunday  with  W.  H.  Charlton,  Esq. 

There  was  an  address  by  the  Corporation  of  Gateshead,  to 
which  General  Grant  made  a  response,  alluding  to  the  depres- 
sion of  trade  in  England  as  affecting  America  and  the  whole 
of  the  civilized  world.  "  But,"  he  said,  "  the  times  will  grow 
better,  and  must  grow  better.  Whether  it  be  that  the  result 
of  over-production,  or  a  little  extravagance  on  the  part  of  civil- 
ized peoples,  for  the  time  has  left  a  surplus  on  hand  to  be  con- 
sumed, we  must  all  hope  and  trust  that  we  shall  soon  see  this 
depression  of  trade  pass  away." 

On  Monday,  the  24th  of  September,  General  Grant  arrived 
in  the  town  of  Sunderland,  having  accepted  an  invitation  of  the 
Mayor  to  lav  the  foundation  stone  of  a  new  museum  on  the 
south  west  corner  of  the  park.  Rain  had  fallen,  and  the  streets 
were  muddy,  but  the  houses  were  decorated  with  flags.  The 
special  engine  which  drew  the  train  in  which  General  Grant 
traveled  had  the  stars  and  stripes  flying  on  it  with  the  union 
jack.  Here,  also,  was  a  procession  of  workmen  and  benevo- 
lent societies  ;  among  them  the  Ancient  Order  of  Foresters,  the 
Odd  Fellows,  the  Free  Gardeners,  the  Sons  of  Temperance, 
Bricklayers,  Tailors,  Boat-builders,  Engineers,  Miners,  Chain- 
makers,  and  Smiths.  As  the  General  walked  up  the  hill  to  the 
park  a  salute  was  fired.  Just  then  the  sun  came  out  from  be- 
hind a  cloud.  An  address  was  read  to  General  Grant  by  the 
President  of  the  Trades  Council,  in  which,  after  complimenting 
the  General,  lie  spoke  of  the  desire  of  the  people  for  free  trade 
and  the  removal  of  unjust  tariffs,  as  well  as  the  success  of  the 
principle  of  international  arbitration.  The  General  in  response 
said  :    "  I  wish  to  return  my  thanks  to  the  Trades  Union  and  the 


SUNDERLAND. 


107 


friendly  societies  who  have  honored  me  with  this  address  this 
morning.  I  wish  you  to  say  to  these  societies  that  I  regard  it 
as  a  very  great  honor.  The  language  of  the  address  which  has 
just  been  read  has  shown  so  much  friendliness,  not  only  for  me 
personally,  but  to  my  country,  that  it  gives  me  great  cause  for 
pride.  I  shall  preserve  this  with  man)-  other  addresses  I  have 
received  while  on  these  shores,  and  I  shall  hand  them  down  to 


GENERAL   GRANT'S    ENGLISH    PRESENTS. 


my  family  to  be  revered  by  them,   no  doubt,   as  long  as   our 
generations  last." 

After  this  the  ceremony  of  laying  the  foundation  stone  took 
place,  which  was  followed  by  a  luncheon  and  addresses  by 
members  of  Parliament.  An  address  was  presented  by  the 
Mayor  and  Town  Council  of  Sunderland.  The  toast  was  the 
health  of  General  Grant  and  his  wife.  To  this  toast  General 
Grant  responded,  and  after  thanking  the  company  for  their 
kindness,  said:    "I   know  that  the  best  of  feeling  exists   in  the 


IQg  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

United  States  toward  the  people  of  Great  Britain.  We  feel 
that  good  feeling-  between  the  two  nations  is  growing,  and  that 
it  is  a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance,  not  alone  to  ourselves, 
but  to  civilization  at  large  ;  moving  together  as  friends,  with  one 
language,  one  energy,  and  one  support  in  all  that  causes  the 
advance  of  civilization,  we  are  destined  as  friends  to  make  a  big 
figure  in  the  world.  As  enemies  we  should  neutralize  each 
other's  efforts,  and,  therefore,  it  is  my  sincere  hope  that  the 
friendship  which  is  existing  now  may  continue  and  increase." 
At  the  close  of  the  luncheon  the  General  visited  the  docks,  and 
in  the  evening  dined  with  Mr.  Lang,  at  Thornhill,  who  cele- 
brated the  visit  of  the  General  by  a  display  of  fireworks.  On 
the  25th  the  General  was  the  guest  of  Mr.  Hartley,  and  visited 
the  glass-works  of  Hartley  &  Company. 

On  the  26th  of  September,  General  Grant  visited  Sheffield. 
The  town  was  decorated,  and  the  General  arrived  on  the  Pull- 
man palace  car.  He  drove  to  the  Cutlers'  Hall.  The  alder- 
men were  present  in  scarlet,  and  the  councilors  in  purple.  In 
the  center  of  the  platform  three  chairs  were  reserved  for  the 
Mayor,  the  General,  and  Mrs.  Grant.  The  Mayor  welcomed 
the  General  to  Sheffield,  and  an  address  was  read  in  which 
America  was  congratulated  on  having  abolished  slavery.  In 
his  response  the  General  said: 

"  Mr.  Mayor,  Ladies,  and  Gentlemen  of  Sheffield  :  I  have  just  heard 
the  address  which  has  been  read  and  presented  to  me,  with  great  gratification. 
It  affords  me  singular  pleasure  to  visit  a  city  the  name  of  which  has  been 
familiar  to  me  from  my  earliest  childhood.  I  think  the  first  penknife  I  ever 
owned,  away  out  in  the  western  part  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  was  marked  '  Shef- 
field.' I  think  the  knives  and  forks  we  then  used  on  our  table  had  all  of  them 
'  Sheffield  '  marked  on  them.  I  do  not  know  whether  they  were  counterfeit  or 
not,  but  it  gave  them  a  good  market.  From  that  day  to  this  the  name  of  your 
industrial  city  has  been  familiar,  not  only  in  the  States,  but  I  suppose  through- 
out the  civilized  world.  The  city  has  been  distinguished  for  its  industry,  its 
inventions,  and  its  progress.  If  our  commerce  has  not  increased  as  much  as 
you  might  wish,  yet  it  has  increased,  I  think,  with  Sheffield  since  the  days  of 
which  I  spoke  when  we  had  no  cutlery  excepting  that  marked  '  Sheffield.'  It 
must  be  very  much  larger  than  it  was  then.  We  are  getting  to  make  some  of 
those  things  ourselves,  and  I  believe  occasionally  we  put  our  own  stamp  upon 
them  ;  but  Sheffield  cutlery  still  has  a  high  place  in  the  markets  of  the  world. 


SHEFFIELD.  Iog 

I  assure  you  it  affords  me  very  great  pleasure  the  welcome  that  I  have  received 
here  to-day,  and  I  shall  carry  away  with  me  the  pleasant  recollections  of  what 
I  have  seen  in  Sheffield." 

An  address  was  also  presented  by  the  Master,  Wardens, 
Searchers,  Assistants,  and  Commonalty  of  the  Corporation  of 
Cutlers  of  Hallamshire,  to  which  General  Grant  responded  as 
follows : 

"  Mr.  Master  Cutler  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Society  of  Cutlers  : 
After  the  few  remarks  I  made  in  reply  to  the  address  of  the  Mayor  there  is 
hardly  anything  for  me  to  say  further  than  that  I  feel  gratified,  highly  gratified, 
at  this  reception.  In  the  matter  of  free  trade,  I  would  hardly  be  able  to  speak 
upon  that  subject  without  some  preparation.  It  must  be  recollected,  however, 
that  the  country  which  I  had  at  one  time  the  honor  of  representing  has  gone 
through  a  great  war  and  contracted  a  great  debt  in  suppressing  a  rebellion. 
That  makes  it  necessary  to  raise  a  large  amount  to  support  the  running  ex- 
penses of  the  Government,  and  to  pay  the  interest  on  the  debt  which  is  owing 
in  foreign  countries  to  a  very  large  extent.  It  is  impossible  to  raise  these  reve- 
nues from  internal  sources.  The  protective  tariff  is  a  matter  scarcely  heard  of 
now  in  the  United  States,  though  it  was  a  common  subject  of  talk  years  ago. 
The  reason  it  is  scarcely  mentioned  now  is  that  the  revenue  from  imports  is 
regarded  simply  as  one  of  the  means  of  raising  the  necessary  money  to  pay  the 
interest  upon  the  national  debt  and  the  other  expenses  incident  to  the  carrying 
on  of  the  Government,  and  if  we  were  to  abolish  the  revenue  from  imports,  the 
foreign  bondholders  would  very  soon  cry  out  against  us  because  we  failed  to 
pay  the  interest  on  the  bonds  which  they  hold."  (Laughter.)  "  We  get  along 
rapidly  enough  in  that  direction,  and  we  will  compete  with  you  in  your  manu- 
factures in  the  markets  of  the  world." 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  speech,  Mr.  Pease,  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  made  a  few  remarks,  in 
the  course  of  which  he  expressed  a  hope  that  in  course  of  time 
the  American  Congress  would  modify  its  tariffs.  An  address 
was  also  presented  by  the  Sheffield  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
dwelling  upon  the  maintenance  of  free  and  open  commercial 
communications  between  the  two  great  English  nations.  In 
reply  General  Grant  said:  "It  is  scarcely  necessary  I  should 
add  anything  to  what  I  have  already  said  in  acknowledgment 
of  my  reception  in  Sheffield.  In  regard  to  your  merchants  and 
mechanics  who  have  gone  to  our  country  and  have  helped  to 
build  up  our  manufactures,  I  can  only  say  we  received  them  with 


1IO  ENGLAND  AND   SCOTLAND. 

open  arms.  The  more  of  you  who  go  the  better  we  will  like  it, 
and  I  hope  it  will  be  to  their  advantage.  Business  with  us  at 
this  time  is  a  little  depressed,  as  it  is  all  over  the  civilized  world; 
but  the  day  is  not  far  distant,  in  my  judgment — certainly  I  hope 
it  is  not  tar  distant — when  trade  and  commerce  will  revive,  and 
when  we  shall  see  more  of  you  and  your  sons  and  daughters 
over  there  ;  see  them  succeed,  see  them  make  pleasant  homes 
and  become  good  citizens  and  law-makers  with  us,  and  see  them, 
when  they  are  qualified,  office-holders.  I  can  assure  you  no- 
thing gives  us  more  pleasure  than  to  see  the  emigration  of  the 
industry  and  intelligence  of  this  community.  We  have  room 
for  all,  and  a  hearty  welcome  for  all,  and  if  you  only  come 
among  us  we  will  try  to  treat  you  as  you  have  treated  me  to- 
day." There  was  a  reception  by  Dr.  Webster,  the  General  Con- 
sul, which  the  shippers  of  Sheffield  attended  ;  and  in  the  even- 
ing the  General  dined  with  the  Mayor. 

On  the  morning  of  the  27th  of  September,  General  Grant 
visited  the  cutlery  works  of  Rogers  &  Sons.  From  here  he 
went  to  the  Cyclops  Iron  and  Steel  Works.  He  examined  a 
mill  for  rolling  wire,  where  wire  was  rolled  for  telegraphic  pur- 
poses ;  an  iron  frame-plate  for  locomotives  was  rolled.  This  is 
a  branch  of  industry  which  has  placed  Sheffield  at  the  head  of 
the  world  in  this  work.  The  General  ascended  a  platform 
where  he  could  well  observe  these  stupendous  operations.  The 
plate  was  intended  for  the  ship  "  Tegetoff"  of  the  Austrian  navy. 
When  finished  it  would  be  fourteen  feet  three  inches  long,  three 
feet  wide,  and  eleven  inches  thick.  The  mass  of  iron  when  put 
into  the  furnace  weighed  twenty-six  tons ;  when  finished  the 
plate  would  weigh  about  twenty  tons.  The  reporter  of  the 
Sheffield  Telegraph  says:  "  On  the  furnace  doors  being  opened, 
only  those  whose  eyes  are  accustomed  to  the  scene  could  view 
anything  within  it  beyond  a  white  mass  of  burning  material.  A 
crane  traveling  overhead,  however,  carried  a  pair  of  huge  tongs 
to  the  mouth  of  the  furnace  ;  they  were  thrust  within  it,  and  with 
the  help  of  the  engines  the  heap  of  seething  metal  was  drawn 
forth  upon  an  iron  lurry.  The  heat  in  the  mill  was  now  tremen- 
dous, and  the  majority  of  the  strangers  were  endeavoring  to 


SHEFFIELD. 


I  I  I 


shield  their  eyes  from  the  blinding  glare  of  the  material,  and  at 
the  same  time  seeking  to  protect  their  faces  from  the  heat.  The 
lurry  was  hastened  to  the  rolls,  and  at  the  first  passage  a  shower 
of  fire  was  ejected  as  the  iron  ran  through  ;  at  the  same  time 
the  dross  running  from  the  sides  of  the  plate  as  whey  does  from 
a  cheese.  In  eight  minutes,  after  being  several  times  passed 
and  repassed  through  the  gigantic  rolls,  the  operation  was  con- 
cluded.     As  the   General   left   the  mill   he   was    again    heartily 


cheered,  a  second  compliment,  which  he  again  acknowledged. 
The  derrick  for  testing  rails  was  shown  in  operation.  A  section 
was  placed  beneath  it,  and  a  weight  of  one  ton  drawn  to  a  height 
of  twenty-five  feet  above  it,  when  it  was  allowed  to  fall.  The 
rail,  however,  only  bent,  and  showed  no  sign  of  fracture.  The 
operation  of  converting  Bessemer  steel  was  next  witnessed. 
When  the  party  reached  this  department,  one  of  the  huge  '  re- 
ceivers '  was  just  ready  to  be  charged  with  the  iron.  The  blast 
was  put  on,  and  for  twenty  minutes  the  party  had  an  opportu- 
nity of  viewing  at  close  quarters  a  display  which  it  would  be 


II2  ENGLAND  AND   SCOTLAND. 

difficult  for  any  pyrotechnist  to  imitate.  Now  and  again  as 
some  mass  of  slag  was  driven  high  into  the  air,  and  fell  back' 
upon  some  damp  place  in  the  pit,  an  explosion  would  ensue, 
which  must  have  reminded  the  General  of  the  bursting  of  shell. 
This  process  appeared  to  excite  the  attention  of  the  ladies  most 
of  all,  and  when  at  last  the  operation  of  converting  was  com- 
pleted, and  an  adjournment  was  made  to  a  cooler  place,  it  was 
with  no  small  amount  of  relief  to  many,  the  heat  being  almost 
insupportable.  In  the  planing-room  it  was  explained  how  the 
armor  plates  are  dressed  into  presentable  form,  how  they  had 
bolt  holes  drilled  through  them,  and  how  the  port  holes  were 
cut  out.  In  this  apartment  were  exhibited  two  plates  which  had 
been  subjected  to  experiments  at  Shoeburyness.  They  were 
manufactured  of  iron,  with  a  surface  of  steel,  under  a  process 
patented  by  Mr.  Alex.  Wilson.  Although  only  nine  inches 
thick,  no  shot  had  been  able  to  pierce  through  them.  The 
bending  of  a  section  of  an  eight-inch  plate,  cold,  was  perfectly 
successful,  no  flaw  of  any  description  being  found  on  the  piece 
after  this  severe  test." 

There  was  a  banquet  in  the  Hall  of  the  Cutlers'  Company, 
one  of  the  most  famous  halls  in  England.  This  room  was  deco- 
rated profusely  with  flowers  and  flags  and  tropical  plants.  The 
Earl  of  Wharncliffe,  who  was  present,  made  a  speech  in  re- 
sponse to  the  toast  of  the  House  of  Lords,  in  which  he  claimed 
Grant  as  a  member  of  the  noble  family  of  Seafield,  the  Earl  of 
Seafield  being  the  head  of  the  Grant  clan.  Mr.  Mundella,  M.P., 
also  spoke,  making  a  graceful  allusion  to  his  visit  to  America, 
and  to  his  having  met  General  Grant  when  he  was  President. 
He  referred  to  his  visit  to  Washington,  and  said:  "I  was  in 
Washington,  and  was  introduced  by  one  of  the  Ministers  of 
General  Grant's  Government  to  the  President  of  the  Republic — 
General  Grant  himself.  We  had  some  conversation  about  the 
speeches  and  about  the  references  that  had  been  made  to  the 
relations  between  the  two  countries.  The  words  which  the 
General  spoke  were  few,  brief,  weighty,  and  encouraging,  and 
were  in  favor  of  peace  with  England.  And  he  encouraged  me 
and  Mr.  Hughes  to  ^o  on  in  the  same  direction  as  had  some  of 


SHEFFIELD. 


1  I 


iii^- 


the  most  prominent  men  in  America — the  best  spirits  in  the  coun- 
try ;   and,  gentlemen,  should  it  ever  be  your  lot,  as  it  has  been 
mine,  to  sit  down  at  Boston,  and  there  to  meet  the  literary  men, 
the  poets,  and  the  statesmen  of  America,  depend  upon   it  you 
will  be  prouder  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race   from  that  time  forth 
than  you  are  to-day.      I  say  these  men  were  of  one  mind  and 
one  heart,  that  between  the  brothers  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic 
and  the  brothers  on   the  other     ,  „ 
side    there    should    be    peace, 
that    all     sources     of    quarrel 
should  be  removed.      When    I 
came   home    I    went    to    Lord 
Granville  and  Mr.  Forster,  and 
they  sent  me  to  Mr.  Gladstone. 
I  placed  before  them  all  I  had 
heard  and  seen  in  America,  and 
humble  though   my   part  may 
have  been,  I  am  proud  to  have 
been  even  one  of  the  humblest 
instruments  in  the  formation  of 
some  measures  and  the  confir- 
mation of  negotiations    which 
produced    that    great   interna- 
tional   understanding  between 
the  two  nations,  which  is  to  the  lasting  honor  of  Mr.  Gladstone's 
Government.      Mr.  Forster  said  to  me  this  morning  as  he  came 
down  with  me   in  the  train  on  his  way  to   Bradford,  that  we  all 
ought  to  be  grateful  to  General  Grant,  as  during  his  Presidency 
he  was  the  confirmed  friend  of  peace  with  England,  and  that  he 
would  not  allow  any  political  faction  to  trade   upon   war  with 
England,  and  thereby  to  make   political   capital   out   of  such  a 
criminal  cry." 

The  toast  of  General  Grant's  health  was  proposed  by  the 
Mayor,  who  alluded  to  the  work  which  had  been  done  in  Eng- 
land by  Mr.  Peabody,  and  the  reverence  which  Englishmen  felt 
for  the  memory  of  that  philanthropist.  General  Grant  in  reply 
said  : 


\.\:\\  ING  SHEFFIELD. 


I  i  a  ENGLAND  AND   SCOTLAND. 

"  Mr.  Mayor,  and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  Sheffield  :  It  makes  my 
heart  feel  glad  when  I  hear  these  sentiments  uttered  in  regard  to  my  own 
country,  and  to  the  friendship  which  should  exist  between  the  two  nations.  As 
I  have  had  occasion  to  say  frequently,  it  has  always  been  a  cherished  view  of 
mine  that  we  should  be  the  best  of  friends.  I  am  sure,  as  an  official  in  a 
position  that  gave  me  some  little  power  of  healing  the  little  grievance  that 
was  caused  between  the  two  nations,  I  exercised  all  the  influence  I  had  to  bring 
about  a  settlement  that  would  be  a  final  settlement,  as  I  believed — and  I  be- 
lieve now  that  it  is  a  final  settlement.  It  was  not  a  question  of  whether  we 
should  get  this  or  that,  it  was  simply  a  question  of  whether  we  should  agree  ; 
it  was  not  a  matter  of  dollars  and  cents — they  were  entirely  unnamed  as  com- 
pared with  the  question  of  a  settlement.  Our  wish  was  simply  to  have  a 
settlement — that  both  parties  should  agree  and  settle  the  matter.  We  have 
agreed  upon  terms,  and  I  believe  that  this  is  the  beginning  of  a  long  series  of 
years — I  hope  centuries — of  friendly  and  honorable  rivalry  between  the  two  great 
English-speaking  nations  and  the  advancement  of  each.  Whatever  tends  to 
the  advancement  of  one  in  some  way  or  other  will  tend  to  the  advancement 
of  the  other." 

Lord  Wharncliffe  proposed  the  health  of  Mrs.  Grant  and  the 
ladies.  At  the  close  of  the  banquet  the  General  went  to  his 
Pullman  palace  car,  where  he  passed  the  night,  leaving  next 
morning  at  seven  o'clock,  after  taking  breakfast  on  the  car, 
for  Stratford-on-Avon.  Arriving  in  Stratford  at  eleven  o'clock 
by  special  train,  the  General  was  met  by  the  Mayor,  Mr.  J.  J. 
Mason,  and  was  driven  to  New  Place  Gardens,  where  he  strolled 
about.  Afterward  the  party  visited  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Cross  and  the  Grammar  School,  where  they  were  shown  the 
corner  which  Shakespeare  as  a  boy  occupied,  where  he  learned 
his  "little  Latin  and  less  Greek."  The  General  before  leaving 
the  school  asked  a  holiday  for  the  boys;  which  kindness  was 
recognized  by  three  times  three  cheers,  and  one  for  Mrs.  Grant. 
The  Shakespeare  Memorial,  now  in  process  of  erection  on  the 
Avon  bank,  was  inspected,  and  afterward  a  visit  made  to  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  where  repose  the  ashes  of  Shakes- 
peare, and  where  the  vicar,  the  Rev.  F.  Smith,  received  the 
party  and  showed  them  the  various  memorials  of  the  poet.  On 
quitting  the  church  the  General  was  driven  to  the  pretty  village 
of  Shottery,  and  a  visit  was  paid  to  the  cottage  of  Anne  Hath- 
away.     Clopton  Bridge  was    crossed,   and  the  party   took  the 


STRATFORD. 


H5 


opportunity  of  looking  at  the  river  Avon.  At  three  o'clock  , 
there  was  a  luncheon  in  the  town  hall.  The  toast  in  General 
Grant's  honor  was  given  by  Mr.  Flower,  an  old  citizen  of  Strat- 
ford, who  had  lived  in  America  half  a  century  ago.  An  address 
was  presented  in  a  casket  made  out  of  wood  of  the  mulberry 
tree  planted  by  Shakespeare  at  New  Place.  In  response  to  this 
toast  the  General  said  he 
had  the  greatest  gratifica- 
tion in  visiting  the  birth- 
place and  home  of  the  dis- 
tinguished citizen  of  this 
great  nation  who  was  so 
well  known  in  America. 
America,  as  well  as  Eng- 
land, celebrated  Shakes- 
peare's birthday,  and  took 
pride  in  his  great  genius. 
He  would  have  been  open 
to  censure  had  he  not  visited 
Stratford-on-Avon,  and  he 
felt  the  greatest  pleasure  in  J<£jjS$'' 
being  recei \  ed  with  such  MilSp^ 
cordiality  and  friendship. 

On  the  morning  of  the 
29th,  the  General  and  party 
left  for  the  pleasant  town  of 

Leamington.  The  town  was  decorated  with  flags,  and  in  Bath 
Street  there  was  a  triumphal  arch,  bearing  the  motto,  "  Wel- 
come to  the  Royal  Borough."  The  road  was  decorated  with 
the  flags  of  England  and  America,  and  from  the  windows  were 
displayed  banners,  garlands,  and  mottoes.  At  the  pump  room 
the  General  was  received  by  a  guard  of  honor  of  the  Leaming- 
ton Volunteers  under  the  command  of  Captain  A.  E.  Overell. 
The  Mayor,  H.  Bright,  Esq.,  delivered  an  address,  in  which  he 
said  that  the  people  of  Leamington  were  glad  to  meet  so  dis- 
tinguished an  American,  that  America  was  running  a  close  race 
with   England,  almost  surpassing  its  manufactures ;   that  it  pro- 


rFORD-ON-AVON. 


n6  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

duced  men  of  die  caliber  of  Stanley,  of  whom  England  and 
America  were  alike  proud ;  and  he  congratulated  General 
Grant  upon  having  taken  so  prominent  a  part  in  the  war  which 
led  to  the  abolition  of  slavery.  "  It  was  a  memorable  day  for 
your  country,"  said  the  Mayor,  "  and  a  great  day  for  humanity 
at  large,  when,  by  the  efforts  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and  yourself, 
aided  by  the  enlightenment  of  the  American  people,  slavery  was 
forever  abolished  from  your  land."  In  response,  the  General, 
who  was  warmly  cheered,  said:  "Mr.  Mayor,  ladies  and  gentle- 
men of  Leamington:  It  is  a  source  of  great  pleasure  to  me  to 
visit  your  renowned  borough.  It  is  a  place  well  known  by  the 
citizens  of  my  own  country.  Two  of  my  children  have  visited 
you  much  earlier  than  I  ever  found  time  to  do  myself,  and  have 
carried  home  with  them  most  pleasurable  recollections,  not  only 
of  what  they  saw  in  Leamington,  but  of  the  very  kind  treatment 
which  they  received  at  the  hands  of  some  of  your  citizens.  I 
have  no  doubt  you  have  many  places  of  interest  surrounding 
your  city,  only  a  few  of  which  I  shall  be  able  to  visit  during  the 
short  stay  I  shall  be  able  to  make  here;  but  I  shall  take  home 
some  pleasurable  recollections  of  my  visit.  I  am  sure  that  it 
affords  me  great  gratification  to  see  the  number  of  people  who 
are  outside  to  receive  me  as  the  representative  of  a  kindred 
people.  I  know  the  feeling  of  friendship  between  the  two  great 
English-speaking  nations  is  strengthening  day  by  day  and  year 
by  year,  and  I  have  no  doubt  but  that,  in  the  future,  all  our  dif- 
ferences being  amicably  and  fairly  adjusted,  we  shall  go  hand  in 
hand  as  honorable  rivals  in  producing  what  is  necessary  for  the 
comfort  and  support  of  men  ;  and  that  our  united  efforts  will  be 
felt  throughout  the  civilized  world,  and  will  have  a  beneficial 
effect  in  carrying  a  better  civilization.  I  hope  that  through  our 
influence  we  may  be  able  at  some  future  day  to  settle  questions 
of  difference  without  resort  to  arms.  Although  it  has  been  my 
misfortune  to  have  been  engaged  in  as  many  battles  as  it  was 
possible  for  an  American  soldier  of  my  generation,  I  never  was 
for  war,  but  always  preferred  to  see  questions  of  difference  set- 
tled by  arbitration.  But  in  our  last  great  conflict  there  was 
the  institution  of  slaver)-.      It  was  not  a  conflict  between  two 


BIRMINGHAM. 


"/ 


nations — it  was  a   family  quarrel  ;   and  there  was   no  way  of 
settlement.      Every  honorable  effort  was  made  on  the  part  of 
the  North  to  avoid  war.     We  know  as  a  people — though,  per- 
haps, it  is  not  generally  known — at  all  events,  it  is  not  gene- 
rally spoken    of — that    our    martyred    President, 
when  he  saw  that  conflict  was   inevitable,    pro- 
posed  to  the  South  that  they  should  be 
jpaid   for  their  slaves  if  they  would  sur- 
render them,  and  come  back 
into  the  family  circle.      But 
this  they  refused,   and   the 
result  was,  as  you  all  know, 
the  loss  of  that  species  of 
property  without    compen- 
sation." 

General  Grant's  visit  to 
Leamington,  Stratford-on- 
Avon,  and  the  midland 
counties,  was  succeeded  by 
a  visit  to  his  daughter  at 
•fp&„"*->-  Southampton.      Here  a  few 

VRjp*'  days  were  spent  in  retirement  and  repose,  and  on 
the  ioth  of  October  the  General  redeemed  his  promise  to  pay 
a  visit  to  Birmingham.  On  arriving,  he  was  received  by  the 
Mayor,  Alderman  Baker,  and  the  member  of  Parliament,  Mr. 
Chamberlain,  and  driven  to  the  Town  Hall,  where  addresses 
were  presented  by  the  corporation,  the  workingmen,  and  the 
Midland  International  Arbitration  Union.  A  dais  had  been 
erected  in  front  of  the  orchestra,  covered  with  crimson  cloth, 
decorated  with  shrubs  and  flowers,  and  surmounted  by  the  union 
jack  and  the  American  flag.  The  General,  accompanied  by  the 
Mayor  and  Mr.  Chamberlain,  entered  the  hall  at  half-past  three, 
and  were  received  with  much  enthusiastic  cheering.  The 
Mayor,  in  his  speech  of  welcome,  alluded  to  the  interest  Birming- 
ham felt  in  the  United  States — how  much  it  watched  American 
growth  and  progress,  not  only  in  fair-weather  times,  but  in  the 
darker  periods  of  the  American  war.      In  doing  so,  Birmingham 


ANNE     HATHAWAY  5 
COTTAGE. 


US  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

had  only  followed  the  leadership  of  that  great  man,  John  Bright. 
During  the  period  of  America's  existence — a  century  since  the 
Declaration  of  Independence — Birmingham  had  grown  from  a 
village  to  a  great  town,  and  in  fifty  years  had  trebled  its  popu- 
lation. The  address  was  read,  and  in  response,  the  General  said  : 
"  Mr.  Mayor,  ladies,  and  gentlemen  :  It  is  with  great  pleasure 
that  I  find  myself  in  Birmingham,  a  city  that  was  so  well  known 
in  my  own  country  during  the  trying  periods  that  have  been 
referred  to.  The  name  of  the  distinguished  gentleman  who 
has  represented  you  for  so  long,  is  as  familiar  almost  in  my  own 
country  as  it  is  in  his  own  home,  and  I  can  promise  that  if  it 
should  ever  be  his  good  pleasure  to  visit  the  United  States — 
and  I  hope  it  will — he  will  receive  as  hearty  a  welcome  as  it 
has  been  my  privilege  and  pleasure  to  receive  at  the  hands  of 
the  English  communities  I  have  been  among.  Your  city  and 
its  growth  are  also  somewhat  familiar  to  us.  The  connection 
between  this  city  and  the  United  States  has  been  as  intimate 
almost  as  that  with  any  other  city  of  the  same  population  in  the 
kingdom;  and  there  is  a  warm  feeling  of  fellowship  between  our 
citizens  and  the  citizens  of  Birmingham.  As  I  have  had  occa- 
sion so  repeatedly  to  express  my  views  on  the  importance  of 
this  subject,  I  need  scarcely  say  anything  more  than  to  thank 
you,  Mr.  Mayor,  and  the  citizens  of  Birmingham,  for  the  kind 
reception  I  have  received  at  your  hands,  and  to  apologize  to 
you  for  having  kept  you  waiting  here  so  long." 

An  address  was  also  presented  on  behalf  of  the  industrial 
classes  of  Birmingham,  by  Geo.  Hanson,  Esq.  This  address 
congratulated  America  on  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  upon 
having  established  arbitration  as  a  principle  of  international 
peace.     In  response  to  this  address,  General  Grant  said: 

"  Workingmen  of  Birmingham  :  I  have  just  heard  your  address  with  great 
interest.  I  have  had  occasion  twice  before,  I  believe,  since  I  have  been  in  Eng- 
land, to  receive  addresses  from  the  workingmen  of  Great  Britain — once  in  Lon- 
don and  once  in  Newcastle-on-Tyne.  In  my  response,  on  both  occasions,  I  ex- 
pressed what  I  thought  was  due  to  the  workingmen,  not  only  of  my  country  and 
of  Great  Britain,  but  to  the  workingmen  all  over  the  world.  I  said  that  we  in 
our  country  strove  to  make  labor  respectable.     There  is  no  class  of  labor  that 


IURMIXGHAM. 


IIQ 


disqualifies  a  man  from  any  position,  either  in  society  or  in  official  life.  Labor 
disgraces  no  man  ;  unfortunately  you  occasionally  find  men  disgrace  labor. 
Your  Mayor  has  alluded  to  the  fact  that  the  population  of  Birmingham  had 
tripled  itself  in  fifty  years.  I  would  ask  the  Mayor  whether,  if  Birmingham  had 
been  deprived  of  its  handicraft  laborers,  it  would  have  seen  any  such  increase  ? 
It  is  due  to  the  labor  and  to  the  manufacture  of  articles  which  are  turned  out 
by  the  means  of  labor,  that  you  have  grown  in  population  and  in  wealth.  In 
response  to  the  kindly  feelings  which  exist  between  the  workingmen  of  Birming- 
ham and  those  of  the  United  States,  and  the  compliments  you  have  paid 
to  me  for  the  efforts  I 
have  made  in  the  cause 
of  freedom  and  the 
North,  I  thank  you  most 
heartily." 

Then  came  an 
address  read  by  Mr. 
A.  O'Neill,  on  be- 
half of  the  Interna- 
tional Arbitration 
Union.  Mr.  O'Neill 
recalled  the  fact 
that  when  General 
Grant  became 
President,  he  frankly  declared  his  motto  to  be  "Let  us  have 
peace."  No  event,  said  Mr.  O'Neill,  in  the  history  of  the 
American  Government  could  surpass  in  importance  the  great 
experiment  of  adjusting  disputes  by  arbitration.  Allusion  was 
made  to  General  Grant's  efforts  as  President  to  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  the  Indians  by  the  appointment  of  commissioners 
from  the  Society  of  Friends.  "Our  hearts,"  continued  Mr. 
O'Neill,  "have  been  also  deeply  touched  by  your  just  and 
beneficent  treatment  of  the  colored  freedmen.  You  guided 
them  in  their  faltering  steps  as  they  marched  out  of  bondage; 
you  defended  them  from  their  enemies ;  you  cared  for  them  in 
their  distresses;  you  aided  them  in  obtaining  education;  and  you 
claimed  for  them  their  rio/hts  as  citizens;  and  now  'the  blessinp- 
of  him  that  was  ready  to  perish  shall  come  upon  you,  for  you  de- 
livered the  poor  that  cried,  and  the  fatherless,  and  him  that  had 
none  to  help  him.'"      In  response  to  this,  General  Grant  said: 


SHAKESPEARES    HOME. 


j  20  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

"Members  of  the  Midland  International  Arbitration  Union:  I 
thank  you  for  your  address.  It  is  one  that  gives  me  very  little  to  reply  to,  more 
than  to  express  my  thanks.  Though  I  have  followed  a  military  life  for  the  bet- 
ter part  of  my  years,  there  was  never  a  day  of  my  life  when  I  was  not  in  favor 
of  peace  on  any  terms  that  were  honorable.  It  has  been  my  misfortune  to  be  en- 
gaged in  more  battles  than  any  other  general  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  ; 
but  there  was  never  a  time  during  my  command  when  I  would  not  have  gladly 
chosen  some  settlement  by  reason  rather  than  by  the  sword.  I  am  conscien- 
tiously, and  have  been  from  the  beginning,  an  advocate  of  what  the  society  rep- 
resented by  you,  gentlemen,  is  seeking  to  carry  out  ;  and  nothing  would  afford 
me  greater  happiness  than  to  know,  as  I  believe  will  be  the  case,  that,  at  some 
future  day,  the  nations  of  the  earth  will  agree  upon  some  sort  of  congress,  which 
shall  take  cognizance  of  international  questions  of  difficulty,  and  whose  deci- 
sions will  be  as  binding  as  the  decision  of  our  Supreme  Court  is  binding  on  us. 
It  is  a  dream  of  mine  that  some  such  solution  may  be  found  for  all  questions  of 
difficulty  that  may  arise  between  different  nations.  In  one  of  the  addresses,  I 
have  forgotten  which,  reference  was  made  to  the  dismissal  of  the  army  to  the 
pursuits  of  peaceful  industry.  I  would  gladly  see  the  millions  of  men  who  are 
now  supported  by  the  industry  of  the  nations  return  to  industrial  pursuits,  and 
thus  become  self-sustaining,  and  take  off  the  tax  upon  labor  which  is  now  levied 
for  their  support." 

On  the  conclusion  of  these  ceremonies,  General  Grant  visited 
the  Free  Library  and  Art  Gallery,  and  several  public  works,  and 
afterward  went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Chamberlain,  whose  hospi- 
tality he  accepted  during  his  stay  in  Birmingham. 

On  Thursday,  the  17th  of  October,  General  Grant,  accompa- 
nied by  the  Mayor,  the  American  Consul,  Mr.  Chamberlain,  and 
Mr.  L.  P.  Morton  of  New  York,  visited  several  important  manu- 
factories of  Birmingham.  The  workpeople  gave  him  a  hearty  and 
cordial  greeting.  At  the  Cambridge-street  Works  an  address 
was  presented,  signed  by  the  workmen,  to  which  General  Grant 
answered  and  said  that  he  was  glad  to  see  institutions  of  learning 
connected  with  a  workshop  employing  so  many  young  persons. 
"If,"  he  said,  "the  example  were  followed  largely  it  would  have 
the  tendency  to  elevate  labor  to  its  proper  standard."  The 
General  studied  the  various  processes  of  casting  pigs  of  brass 
and  rolling  them  into  shapes  by  machinery  of  great  powers. 
The  methods  of  tube-drawing  and  ornamenting  were  shown,  as 
well  as  the  system  of  producing  impressions  on  block  tin.  There 
was  a  visit  also  to  the  celebrated  electro-plate  works  of  Messrs. 


BIRMINGHAM. 


121 


Elkington  &  Company.  Among-  other  objects  inspected  was  a 
copy  of  the  delicately  beautiful  basket  of  real  ferns  plated  in 
gold  and  silver,  which  was  presented  to  the  Princess  of  Wales  ; 
also  a  choice  Japanese  tea  service,  the  tray  of  solid  silver  coated 
with  gold;  the  famous  Milton  shield  and  Helicon  vase,  in  re- 
pousse— the  former  representing  subjects  from  "Paradise  Lost," 
and  the  latter,  valued  at  thirty  thousand  dollars,  in  the  Renais- 
sance style,  illustrating  Music  and  Poetry.  After  luncheon,  which 


70WN    HALL,    BIRMINGHAM. 


took  place  at  the  Queen's  Hotel,  on  the  invitation  of  the  Mayor, 
the  button  works  of  Messrs.  Green,  Cadbury  &  Richards,  and 
the  world-renowned  pen  works  of  Messrs.  Gillott  were  examined. 
In  the  evening  there  was  a  banquet  at  the  Town  Hall,  nearly 
three  hundred  and  fifty  persons  being  present.  The  orchestra 
was  ornamented  with  flags,  plants,  and  flowers.  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain, M.P.,  proposed  General  Grant's  health.  It  was  not,  he  said, 
as  one  of  the  greatest  of  military  commanders  that  Birmingham 
did  honor  to  him.  While  they  admired  the  courage,  the  perti- 
nacity, and  the  consummate  ability  with  which  he  conducted  a 


I22  ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 

tremendous  struggle  to  its  conclusion  and  won  great  victories, 
they  admired  still  more  the  use  to  which  he  had  put  his  victories, 
and  they  saw  in  him  the  first  and  foremost  instrument  in  the  set- 
tlement oi  issues  more  important  to  civilization  and  to  freedom 
than  any  other  which  had  been  tried  in  our  times — issues  involv- 
ing the  very  existence  of  America.  In  America  war  had  been 
the  prelude  to  a  peace  which  he  hoped,  and  might  fairly  believe, 
to  be  the  harbinger  of  a  lasting  alliance  and  union.  He  con- 
trasted the  career  of  Grant  with  that  of  Napoleon,  the  latter 
having  betrayed  the  confidence  bestowed  on  him  by  France  in 
undermining  the  institutions  which  he  was  expected  to  guard 
and  defend.  In  honoring  General  Grant  there  was  a  desire  on 
the  part  of  England  to  draw  closer  the  ties  which  unite  the  two 
great  English-speaking  nations  ;  and  everywhere  the  conviction 
was  gaining  ground  that  their  freedom,  friendship,  and  cordial 
union  was  the  best  guarantee  for  the  freedom  and  progress  of 
the  world. 

General  Grant,  in  responding  to  the  toast,  said  : 

"  Mr.  Mayor,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  Birmingham  :  I  scarcely  know 
how  to  respond  to  a  toast  which  has  been  presented  in  such  eloquent  language, 
and  in  terms  so  complimentary  to  myself  and  to  the  nation  to  which  I  belong, 
and  in  which  I  have  had  the  honor  of  holding  a  public  position.  There  are 
some  few  points,  however,  alluded  to  by  your  representative  in  Parliament,  that 
I  will  respond  to.  He  alluded  to  the  great  merit  of  retiring  a  large  army  at  the 
close  of  a  great  war.  If  he  had  ever  been  in  my  position  for  four  years,  and 
undergone  all  the  anxiety  and  care  that  I  had  in  the  management  of  those  large 
armies,  he  would  appreciate  how  happy  I  was  to  be  able  to  say  that  they  could 
be  dispensed  with."  (Laughter  and  applause.)  "  I  disclaim  all  credit  and  praise 
for  doing  that  one  thing.  I  knew  that  I  was  doomed  to  become  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and,  so  far  as  my  personal  means  went,  to  aid  in  eradicating  the 
debt  already  created,  and  in  paying  my  share  of  any  expenses  that  might  have 
to  be  borne  for  the  support  of  a  large  standing  army.  Then,  further,  we 
Americans  claim  to  be  so  much  of  Englishmen,  and  to  have  so  much  general 
intelligence,  and  so  much  personal  independence  and  individuality,  that  we  do 
not  quite  believe  that  it  is  possible  for  any  one  man  there  to  assume  any  more 
right  and  authority  than  the  Constitution  of  the  land  gave  to  him."  (Hear, 
hear.)  "  Among  the  English-speaking  people  we  do  not  think  these  things  pos- 
sible. We  can  fight  among  ourselves,  and  dispute  and  abuse  each  other,  but 
we  will  not  allow  ourselves  to  be  abused  outside  ;  nor  will  those  who  look  on  at 
our  little  personal  quarrels  in  our  own  midst  permit  us  to  interfere  with  their 


BRIGHTON.  ,  2  , 

own  rights.  Now,  there  is  one  subject  that  has  been  alluded  to  here,  that  I  do 
not  know  that  I  should  speak  upon  it  at  all  ;  I  have  heard  it  occasionally  whis- 
pered since  I  have  been  in  England — and  that  is,  the  great  advantages  that 
would  accrue  to  the  United  States  if  free  trade  should  only  be  established.  I 
have  a  sort  of  recollection,  through  reading,  that  England  herself  had  a  protec- 
tive tariff  until  she  had  manufactories  somewhat  established.  I  think  we  are 
rapidly  progressing  in  the  way  of  establishing  manufactories  ourselves,  and  I 
believe  we  shall  become  one  of  the  greatest  free-trade  nations  on  the  face  of 
the  earth  ;  and  when  we  both  come  to  be  free-traders,  I  think  that  probably 
the  balance  of  nations  had  better  stand  aside,  and  not  contend  with  us  at  all  in 
the  markets  of  the  world.     If  I  had  been  accustomed  to  public  speaking — I 


WARWICK    CASTLE. 


never  did  speak  in  public  in  my  life  until  I  came  to  England — I  would  respond 
further  to  this  toast  ;  but  I  believe  that  the  better  policy  would  be  to  thank  you 
not  only  for  the  toast,  and  the  language  in  which  it  has  been  presented,  but  for 
the  very  gratifying  reception  which  I  have  had  personally  in  Birmingham." 

Mr.  L.  P.  Morton  made  a  brief  speech,  expressing  his  great 
personal  gratification  at  witnessing  the  hospitality  and  courtesy 
shown  General  Grant,  which  had  produced  a  deep,  and  he  be- 
lieved, a  lasting  impression  on  the  citizens  of  the  United  States. 
At  the  conclusion  of  these  ceremonies  General  Grant  left  for 
London. 

On  the  20th  of  December  the  General  visited  Briehton,  and 


124 


ENGLAND   AND   SCOTLAND. 


was  the  guest  of  Mr.  Ashbury,  M.P.  On  the  2  2d  a  banquet 
took  place  in  his  honor.  It  was  given  by  the  Mayor  and  Cor- 
poration. The  chief  men  of  Brighton  were  present.  The 
Mayor,  in  proposing  the  General's  health,  referred  to  the  mu- 
tual friendly  and  commercial  relations  which  subsisted  between 
the  two  countries,  and  to  General  Grant's  great  military  and 
civil  services  to  his  country.      General  Grant  replied  as  follows: 

"Mr.  Mayor  and  Gentlemen  :  I  have  to  rise  here  in  answer  to  a  toast 
that  has  made  it  embarrassing  to  me,  by  the  very  complimentary  terms  in 
which  it  has  been  proposed.  But  I  can  say  to  you  all,  gentlemen,  that  since 
my  arrival  in  England,  I  have  had  the  most  agreeable  receptions  everywhere  ; 
and  I  enjoy  yours  exceedingly.  In  a  word,  I  will  say  that  Brighton  has  advan- 
tages  which  very  few  places  have,  in  consequence  of  its  proximity  to  the  greatest 
city  in  the  world.  There  you  can  go  and  transact  your  business,  and  return 
in  the  evening.  If  I  were  an  Englishman,  I  think  I  should  select  Brighton  as 
a  place  where  I  should  live,  and  I  am  very  sure  you  could  not  meet  a  jollier 
and  better  people  anywhere.  But  I  would  say  one  word  in  regard  to  a  toast 
which  preceded,  and  that  is  in  regard  to  your  Forces.  I  must  say  one  word  for 
the  Volunteers,  or  Reserve  Forces,  as  I  believe  you  call  them.  They  are 
what  the  English-speaking  people  are  to  rely  on  in  the  future.  I  believe  that 
wherever  there  is  a  great  war  between  one  civilized  nation  and  another,  it  will 
be  these  Forces  in  which  they  will  have  to  place  their  confidence.  We  Eng- 
lish-speaking people  keep  up  the  public  schools  in  order  to  maintain  and  ad- 
vance the  intelligence  of  our  country,  and,  in  time,  fit  our  people  for  volunteer 
service,  and  for  higher  training  ;  and  you  will  always  find  the  men  among 
them  who  are  equal  to  any  occasion.  I  have  forgotten  a  good  deal  our  Mayor 
has  said  that  I  would  like  to  respond  to,  but  I  can  say,  that  since  I  landed  in 
Liverpool,  my  reception  has  been  most  gratifying  to  me.  I  regard  that  recep- 
tion as  an  evidence  of  the  kindest  of  feeling  toward  my  country,  and  I  can 
assure  you,  if  we  go  on  as  good  friends  and  good  neighbors,  that  the  English- 
speaking  people  are  going  to  be  the  greatest  people  in  the  world.  Our  lan- 
guage is  spreading  with  greater  rapidity  than  the  language  of  any  other  nation 
ever  did,  and  we  are  becoming  the  commercial  people  of  the  world." 

On   the    following   day  the   General    left    Brighton    for   the 
metropolis. 


iiil 


k 


) 


CHAPTER    V. 

PARIS VISITS    TO    THE    PRINCIPAL    PLACES    OF    INTEREST THE 

AMERICAN    COLONY. 

$  ENERAL  GRANT'S  visit  to  Paris  had  been  some- 
what postponed.  Originally  the  idea  had  been 
entertained  of  visiting  Paris  in  midsummer,  on  the 
way  to  Italy.  A  reception  had  even  been  proposed 
for  the  General,  which  was  to  have  taken  place  in 
Paris  on  the  4th  of  July.  Certain  changes  in  France,  however, 
were  transpiring,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  American  repre- 
sentatives in  Paris,  might  give  General  Grant's  visit  in  July 
somewhat  of  a  political  character.  The  struggle  between  the 
President  of  the  Republic,  General  MacMahon,  and  the  Jules 
Simon  cabinet  had  set  in,  and  it  was  thought  that  the  presence 
of  General  Grant  would  be  taken  by  the  monarchical  and  impe- 
rial parties  in   France  as  savoring  of  a  political  character,    in 

>-5 


126 


PARIS— PRINCIPAL   PLACES    OF  INTEREST. 


favor  of  the  republicans.  General  Grant  could  not  come  to 
France  without  becoming  the  guest  of  General  MacMahon,  and 
a  false  interpretation  of  the  visit  might  have  been  entertained. 
It  was  then  determined  that  the  journey  to  Paris  should  be 
postponed  until  October. 

In  France  political  feeling  was  at  fever  heat.  Though  Paris, 
the  great  city,  was  apparently  as  peaceful  as  on  the  eve  of  the 
Lenten  feast,  as  quiet  as  before  that  coup  d'etat  which  Victor 
Hugo  has  described   in   his  "  Histoire  d'un   Crime,"  every  one 


knew  that  the  crisis  had  come.  The  boulevards  might  throng 
with  eager  bustling  throngs  ;  all  the  currents  of  life,  society, 
business,  and  pleasure  might  be  rushing  on  ;  still,  in  an  instant 
there  might  come  revolution  and  anarchy.  The  writer  strolled 
under  the  shadow  of  the  Madelaine,  and  turned  into  a  street 
leading  to  the  Place  de  la  Concorde.  It  was  here  the  guillo- 
tine once  stood  ;  and  where  the  fountains  were  now  gushing. 
oceans  of  blood  had  been  shed,  which  those  waters  never  would 
cleanse.  On  toward  the  Bastile  swept  a  broad  avenue  of  light. 
There  were  masses  of  illumination  clustered  around  the  obelisk 
of  Luxor,  and  the  moon  shed  its  beams  on  the  gilded  dome  of 


PLACE  DE  LA    CONCORDE.  l2y 

the  Invalides.  All  around  was  the  murmur  and  hum  of  a 
great  city,  the  many  voices  of  the  night  rising  and  falling  like 
the  cadence  of  the  sea.  Paris  never  looked  more  beautiful, 
more  self-composed,  but  never  was  more  anxious.  Walls  were 
covered  with  parti-colored  appeals.  Prominent  were  the  pro- 
clamations of  Marshal  MacMahon,  calling  on  the  patriotism 
of  the  people,  with  official  white-paper  posters.  The  wild  en- 
thusiasm of  a  New  York  election  was  wanting-,  with  its  flashing 
torches  and  multitudes  of  marching  men.  Such  a  thing  would 
have  been  impossible  in  France.  Attempt  a  political  demon- 
stration and  squadrons  of  cavalry  would  inclose  the  street,  or 
otherwise  there  might  be  tumult  and  massacre. 

It  was  the  coming  election  which  was  to  settle  the  fate  of 
France.  If  honest  republicanism  could  gain  the  day,  it  would 
show  the  highest  allegiance  to  the  law.  It  would  demonstrate 
this  fact,  that  France  had  grown  greater,  through  all  her  sore 
trials — that  the  France  of  the  days  of  Messidor,  which  Barbier 
in  his  famous  poem  had  compared  to  a  wild,  untrainable  colt, 
had  at  last  been  broken,,  and  had  become  disciplined  and  obe- 
dient ;  not  coerced  by  the  iron  grip  of  a  Bonaparte,  but  by  the 
kinder  hand  of  enlightened  public  opinion. 

Never  was  republic  encompassed  with  greater  difficulties. 
Pretenders  to  the  throne  were  striving  to  mount  its  slippery 
steps,  policemen  were  trammeling  and  tethering  the  press,  spies 
were  dogging  every  leader,  and  the  clergy  were  praying  for 
republican  discomfiture.  As  to  the  army,  it  was  marching  and 
counter-marching,  a  threatening  reminder  of  its  power.  Worse 
than  all,  the  fearful  shadow  of  the  Commune  rose  like  a  dark 
cloud  casting  its  gloom  over  Paris.  When,  in  spite  of  all  this, 
republicanism  triumphed,  this  was  the  first  step  toward  true 
conservative  republicanism. 

It  was  when  France  was  all  aglow  with  excitement  caused 
by  a  true  republican  victory  that  General  Grant  arrived  in  Paris. 
On  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  October,  1877,  the  General,  ac- 
companied by  his  wife,  his  son,  and  the  writer,  left  London  in  a 
special  train  from  Charing  Cross.  A  crowd  of  Americans  assem- 
bled at  the  station   bid  the  General  God-speed.     Folkestone 


[28 


PARIS— PRINCIPAL   PLACES   OF  INTEREST. 


was  soon  reached,  the  express  train  speeding  rapidly  through 
the  pleasant  Kentish  county.  At  Folkestone  the  Mayor  and 
many  of  the  prominent  citizens  were  assembled,  who  expressed 
their  well-wishes,  and  with  hearty  cheers  the  party  took  the 
steamer  and  crossed  the  channel.  The  trip  was  calm  and 
pleasant.  As  the  white  cliffs  of  England  disappeared  in  the 
seas,  the  green  fields  of  France  loomed  up  on  the  horizon.  On 
landing  at  Boulogne,  the  prefect  of  the  department  welcomed 
the  General,  in  the  name  of  the  Marshal    President  of  France. 


Bl  H   LI  >GNE 


As  there  were  not  the  excuses  of  sea-sickness  to  delay  the  party 
at  Boulogne,  after  but  a  very  short  rest  the  General  proceeded  to 
Paris.  Time  enough  was  spent  in  Boulogne  to  understand  why 
it  is  so  appreciated  by  the  English.  Lying  but  a  few  hours 
from  London,  it  is  both  the  summer  and  winter  resort  of  many 
an  impecunious  Englishman,  pleasant  climate  and  cheapness  of 
living  being  the  great  desiderata. 

Just  before  reaching  the  depot  at  Paris,  General  Noyes,  the 
American  Minister,  General  Torbert,  the  Consul-General,  and  an 
aide-de-camp  of  Marshal  MacMahon  entered  the  car.  In  the 
name  of  the  President  of  the  French  Republic  the  Ex-President 


BOULOGXE.  I2q 

of  the  Republic  of  the  United  States  was  welcomed  to  France. 
On  arriving,  a  large  crowd,  comprising  the  leading  members  of  the 
American  colony  in  Paris,  received  the  General.  After  greetings 
had  been  exchanged,  the  General  drove  to  the  Hotel  Bristol, 
through  a  heavy  rain.  It  would  be  impossible  to  give  in  detail 
an  account  of  the  many  receptions  and  dinners  given  to  General 
Grant  in  Paris.  His  stay  in  Paris  was  a  pleasant  one.  It  is 
not  worth  while  to  detail  such  minor  incidents  of  a  disagreeable 
character  which  arose  because  French  political  feeling  would 
not  regard  General  Grant's  visit  to  France  in  the  exact  light 
he  intended  it  to  be,  a  purely  unofficial  one.  Because  Mr. 
Washburne,  our  Minister  to  France  during  the  Franco-Prussian 
war,  had  had  at  the  same  time  the  rights  of  the  German  resi- 
dents in  Paris  intrusted  to  his  care,  and  because  he  had  acted 
with  justice  and  humanity,  it  suited  monarchists,  imperialists, 
and  some  few  of  the  republican  party,  to  think  that  General 
Grant  during  his  Presidency,  in  accepting  the  acts  of  his  foreign 
minister  had  rather  inclined  toward  the  Prussians  than  to 
France.  Victor  Hugo  did  much  to  intensify  this  feeling. 
Poetic  license  sometimes  becomes  quite  indifferent  as  to  facts. 
It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  this  feeling  should  have  existed, 
but  as  it  belongs  to  the  history  of  General  Grant's  visit  to 
France,  as  such  I  am  forced  to  write  it.  Although  this  feeling 
existed,  the  French  were  too  polite  a  people  to  show  the  least 
discourtesy  to  a  guest.  It  must  be  mentioned  that  the  Bona- 
partists  and  their  reactionary  papers  went  out  of  their  way  to 
excite  anti-German  feelings  against  the  General.  It  was  alleged 
by  them  that  the  General's  visit  was  a  demonstration  in  favor 
of  republicanism.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  feelings  of  General 
Grant  toward  France  were  of  the  friendliest  character.  It  is 
true,  however,  that  one  of  his  few  aversions  was  directed 
toward  the  Bonapartist  family.  He  looked  upon  the  war 
between  France  and  Germany  as  a  causeless  war,  made  by  an 
ambitious  and  selfish  despot  to  save  his  dynasty.  In  regard  to 
Napoleonism,  though  General  Grant  had  never  written  a  poem 
on  the  same  subject,  he  entirely  agreed  with  Victor  Hugo. 
Although  during  the  first  few  days  the  weather  was  bad,  this 
9 


i  ;o 


PARIS— PRINCIPAL   PLACES   OF  INTEREST. 


did  not  prevent  the  General's  visiting  all  the  places  and  public 
buildings  worthy  of  attention  in  Paris.  There  is  no  enjoyment 
in  Paris  so  complete  as  that  of  threading  its  streets.  The 
party  scaled  the  heights  of  Montmartre.  Montmartre  is  an 
elevated  quarter  of  Paris  from  whence  a  full  view  of  the  im- 
mense city  can  be  had.  The  Ouartier  Latin  was  frequently 
visited.  Here  are  the  universities,  the  schools  of  medicine,  the 
far-famed   Sorbonne  ;    it  is  the  old  heart  of   Paris,  where  for 


CHAMPS  ELVS&ES. 


eight  hundred  years  and  more,  students  from  all  parts  of  the 
world  have  come  ;  here  all  the  great  libraries  are  concentrated. 
It  is  a  world  in  itself,  a  center  of  study  and  amusement,  with 
its  famous  theater,  the  Odeon.  There  is  a  well-known  street  in 
the  Ouartier  Latin,  the  Rue  de  l'Ancienne  Comedie,  which  tells 
of  its  former  character.  Paris  is  indeed  the  elysium  of  loungers. 
Save  when  entangled  in  the  very  center  of  the  old  ciU,  go  as 
you  will,  after  a  while  you  must  emerge  to  some  large  and  open 
place,  which  acts  as  a  frame  to  a  fine  public  building.  Here  are 
the  Champs  Elysees  with  their  broad  carriage-ways,  where  all  the 


CHAMPS  ELYSEES. 


131 


dashing  equipages  of  Europe  are  assembled.  The  sidewalks  are 
thronged  by  elegantly  dressed  people.  Walk  its  length  until  you 
stand  at  the  Rond  Point  midway,  and  look  up  and  down.  Far 
beyond  you  stands  in  its  lofty  magnificence  L'Arc  de  l'Etoile. 
This  triumphal  arch,  which  is  the  grandest  in  Europe,  conceived 
by  the  Emperor  Napoleon  I.  in  1806,  was  finished  thirty  years 
afterward.  Noble  in  form,  it  is  ornamented  with  famous  bas- 
reliefs,  due  to  the  greatest  artists  in  France.  Cast  your  eye 
farther  beyond  this  arch,  and  the  buildings  of  Neuilly  and  the 
green  woods  of  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  the  famous  riding-  anddriv- 

O  0*0 

ing  park  of  the  Parisian,  is  seen.     Now,  standing  as  you  are,  face 

to  the  left,  and  see  looming 

in  the  sky   the  lofty  dome 

of   the    Invalides,  the   last 

refuge    of    France's  brave 

soldiers.      Many  a  veteran 

lives  there  and  talks  of  his 

eventful   life,  while   in   his 

midst  there  reposes  in  his 

porphyry     tomb    all     that 

remains  of    Napoleon 

Bonaparte.      Now  turning 

directly    around,    on    your 

rear  look  down  the  broad 

Champs  Elysees  until  your 

eye   lights  on  the  obelisk 

of  Luxor,  the   Place  de  la 

Concorde,  and  the   Tuile- 

ries.      If   we    had   been   in 

Paris  before  the  Commune 

you  would  have   seen  the 

palace  of  the    Tuileries.      Now    they   only    show   their    ruins ; 

but    the  eye  goes  beyond   them.     The   massive  buildings    of 

the   Louvre  are  seen,  and  away  beyond  that  looms  up    Notre 

Dame  de  Paris,   and  many  a   massive  church   and  spire.      Still 

the  picture  is  not    concluded    yet.       On    your    right    spreads 

out  the    busiest  portion  of  the  great    city.      The  line  of  the 


THE    INVALIDES. 


PARIS— PRINCIPAL   PLACES    OF  INTEREST. 


PLACE    DE    LA    CONCORDE. 


boulevard  is  distinguished  with  the  Madelaine — and  follow- 
ing it  on — there  is  the  column  of  the  Bastile.  Perhaps,  if 
not  from  the  Rond  Point,  at  least  from  the  Place  Concorde, 
the  finest  architectural  apcrcu  the  world  knows  is  seen.  No- 
thing' is  wanting — 
for  a  river  with 
many  bridges,  flank- 
ed with  stately 
buildings,  gives  va- 
riety to  the  scene. 

"  How  I  long," 
said  Mr.  Greeley, 
"  for  the  time  when 
I  can  leave  this  desk 
and  lose  myself  in 
the  wilderness  of 
London."  If  Lon- 
don is  a  wilderness, 
and  I  have  often  thought  the  loveliest  spot  I  ever  saw  was 
Cheapside  at  noon,  Paris  has  its  especial  charms. 

A  formal  visit  was  paid  to  the  Elysees,  and  there  was  a  pre- 
sentation to  Marshal  MacMahon.  The  Marshal  was  extremely 
cordial,  and  greeted  General  Grant  as  a  comrade  and  fellow 
soldier,  and  wanted  to  show  him  the  army  and  some  military 
shows.  But  here  came  something  which  often  perplexed  the 
General's  hosts  while  in  Europe,  and  that  was  his  aversion 
to  military  displays.  He  never  seemed  to  want  to  see  a  re- 
view nor  hear  a  drum  beat,  nor  visit  any  military  pageant. 
There  were  many  meetings  between  General  Grant  and  Mar- 
shal MacMahon,  and  the  General  was  impressed  with  the  sin- 
cere straightforwardness  of  the  President,  who  was  devoted  to 
France,  and  who  seemed  animated  only  by  the  purposes  of 
both  preserving  and  strengthening  his  country. 

Before  the  courtesies  which  were  to  be  extended  to  General 
Grant  by  the  Americans  in  Paris  were  rendered,  the  series  of 
visits  to  various  parts  of  Paris  were  continued,  and  afforded 
much   amusement   to  the  party.     The    Palais  Royal,  with  its 


LOUVRE. 


covered  squares  of  shops,  where  the  most  brilliant,  the  most 
tempting  merchandise  is  offered,  was  visited.  For  the  major 
part  of  the  day  the  interior  gardens  of  the  Palais  Royal  are 
thronged.  Here  are  many  leading  restaurants;  and  from  a 
dinner  there,  the  party  could  go  to  one  of  the  two  theater.; 
which  are  in  the  immediate  proximity.  Across  the  river, 
skirting  again  the  Latin  Quarter,  was  the  Luxembourg  Palace, 
with  its  noble  gallery,  containing  the  works  of  contemporaneous 
artists ;  the  garden,  with  the  observatory.  An  especial  object  of 
interest  to  General  Grant  was  the  church  of  Notre  Dame, 
which,  after  St.  Peter's,  is  the  grandest  ecclesiastical  building  in 
the  world.  Before  its  columns,  in  dusky  crypt,  has  been  enacted 
the  whole  history  of  France. 
Royal  marriages,  baptisms, 
and  funerals  have  taken  place 
here.  The  Revolution  set  up 
within  its  precincts  the  God- 
dess of  Reason  upsetting  re- 
ligion, to  be  followed  by  the 
coronation  of  Napoleon  and  a 
return  to  the  faith.  To  con- 
trast ancient  church  edifices 
with  more  modern  work,  the 
church  of  La  Trinite,  erected 
in  i860,  was  visited.  The 
commercial  aspect  of  Paris 
interesting  General  Grant, 
the  Tribunal  de  Commerce 
on  the  Ouai  Desaix,  and  its 
method  of  working,  had  the  particular  attention  of  the  Ameri- 
can party. 

It  was  to  the  Louvre  that  numerous  visits  were  paid.  If 
a  man  with  endless  time  and  leisure  could  visit  this  most  re- 
markable of  galleries,  its  numerous  treasures  could  hardly  be 
exhausted  in  a  life  of  study.  Gallery  follows  on  gallery.  Here 
are  all  the  great  masters  of  the  world,  the  Leonardo  da  Vincis, 
the    Raphaels,  the  Correggios,  Guidos,  Van  Dycks,   Murillos, 


AKC    DE    TR1UMFHE. 


134 


PARIS— PR IXCIPAL   PLACES   OF  INTEREST. 


PORTE    ST.    MARTIN. 


Metsus,  and  Ostades.  It  is  a  progression  of  art,  from  the  earli- 
est times  up  to  to-day.  Pictures,  statues,  stretch  out  in  end- 
less view.  There 
are  single  rooms  de- 
voted to  the  works 
of  a  particular 
country,  and  there 
is  no  style  or  method 
of  art  which  is  not 
represented.  As  we 
passed  through  the 
many  galleries, 
perched  on  h  i  g  h 
scaffolds  were  art- 
ists from  all  coun- 
tries copying  and  studying  the  glorious  masters  of  the  past. 

Skirting  the  Rue  de  Rivoli,  emerging  from  the  Louvre,  pass- 
ing the  demolished  Tuileries,  the  Column  Vendome  rears  its 
height.  Built  by  the  Emperor  Napoleon  I.  in  1810,  it  per- 
petuates the  victories  achieved  at  Ulm  and  Austerlitz.  It  is 
made  of  bronze,  coming  from  the  cannons  captured  by  the 
French,  and  the  metal  bears  carvings  commemorative  of 
the  French  campaigns.  All  know  how  Courbet,  the  realistic 
artist,  as  a  revolutionist,  with  savage  iconoclasm  tore  down  this 
column,  and  how  after  peace  was  restored  to  France  and  the 
Commune  was  crushed,  this  trophy  of  French  victory  was 
again  put  in  its  former  position. 

Sight-seeing  was  interrupted  from  time  to  time  by  the 
numerous  attentions  and  civilities  showered  on  General  Grant. 
On  the  29th  of  October,  General  Noyes,  the  American  Minis- 
ter, gave  the  Ex-President  a  reception  at  his  house  on  the 
Avenue  Josephine.  This  reception  was  of  the  most  brilliant 
character,  and  was  attended  by  all  the  leading  Americans  in 
Paris.  None  of  the  republican  leaders  were,  however,  pres- 
ent. Subsequently,  Mr.  Healey,  the  artist,  arranged  a  meeting, 
at  which  General  Grant,  met  M.  Gambetta.  From  this  and 
other  meetings,  a  high  feeling  of  esteem   arose  for  the  French 


ARCH   OF  TRIUMPH. 


'35 


republican  leader,  who  impressed  the  General  as  one  of  the 
foremost  minds  in  Europe.  It  was  on  the  6th  of  November 
that  the  members  of  the  American  colony,  numbering  some 
three  hundred,  gave  a  public  dinner  to  General  Grant  at  the 
Grand  Hotel.  With  but  few  exceptions,  every  American  in 
Paris  was  present.  General  Noyes  presided,  and  among  the 
guests  were  MM.  Rochambeau  and  Lafayette,  the  latter  de- 
scended from  the  Revolutionary  hero  of  that  name.  The  veteran 
journalist  Emile  Girardin  was  there,  whom  Horace  Greeley 
called  the  greatest  journalist  in  the  world.  Edmond  About  and 
Laboulaye  were  present.  This  dinner  proceeded  without  spe- 
cial incident,  the  General  being  received  with  the  greatest  en- 
thusiasm, and  making  a  brief  speech.  These  two  dinners, 
with  one  at  the  Elysees,  were  the  special  events  of  the  Gene- 
ral's visit.  General  Torbert  entertained  the  Ex-President  at 
his  apartment.  On  the  20th  of  November,  Madame  Mackey  of 
California  gave  a  reception  at  her  house  near  the  Arch  of 
Triumph,  which  from  its  splendor  recalled  scenes  in  the  "Ara- 
bian Nights."  The 
Marquis  T  alley - 
rand-Perigord,  de- 
scended from  the 
great  Talleyrand, 
one  of  the  few  no- 
blemen in  France 
who  cheerfully  ac- 
cepted the  Re- 
public, gave  a 
princely  dinner  to 
the  Ex -President, 
which  was  attended 
by  over  a  hundred  guests. 

Count  of  Paris  was  presented  to  General  Grant.  Mrs.  Sickles, 
wife  of  General  Sickles,  Madame  Bakmitoff,  formerly  Miss 
Bates  of  Washington,  Dr.  T.  W.  Evans,  I.  H.  Harjes,  of  the 
firm  of  Drexel,  Harjes  &  Co.,  R.  R.  Scott,  the  Secretary  of 
Legation,  and  R.  M.  Hooper,  Vice-Consul  of  the  United  States 


CHURCH    UF   ST.    GENEVIEVE. 


M.  Laugal  gave  a  dinner,  when  the 


136 


PARIS—PRINCIPAL   PLACES    OF  INTEREST. 


in    Paris,  were  among  those   who  gave   dinners  and  entertain- 
ments in  honor  of  General  Grant  and  his  family. 

The  American  colony,  of  which  General  Grant  was  for  the 
next  few  weeks  the  honored  guest,  is  an  institution  in  Paris. 
In  this  city  of  many  nationalities,  the  American  plays  a  promi- 
nent part.  Several  causes  contribute  to  this.  American  soci- 
ety is  composite ;  and  citizens  of  the  older  nationalities  desire 
to  return  to  the  memories  and  scenes  of  the  older  world. 
There  are  exiles,  idlers,  and  students ;   business  exiles,  driven 

away  in  the  bankruptcy  revo- 
lution ;  political  exiles,  suffer- 
ing from  the  fall  of  Tammany 
and  the  Southern  Confede- 
racy ;  social  exiles,  who  seek 
oblivion  in  absence.  There  is 
so  much  in  Paris  to  attract, 
that,  when  cultivated  citizens 
gain  wealth,  they  come  to  en- 
joy the  art-life  of  the  metropo- 
lis which  is  surpassed  in  no 
other  city.  There  is  a  perma- 
nent colony,  and  a  floating  col- 
ony. The  permanent  colony 
numbers  in  winter  as  many  as 
three  thousand.  The  floating 
colony  is  at  its  height  in  the 
summer,  and  reaches  in  ave- 
rage years  ten  thousand.  In 
years  of  war,  like  1870,  it  falls  below  the  average.  In  years  of 
the  Exhibition,  it  exceeds  the  average.  I  remember  reading 
in  the  statistics  of  travel,  during  the  Exhibition,  that  the 
American  was  next  to  the  English  in  number.  Every  year 
adds,  because  persons  who  once  visit  Paris  are  pretty  certain  to 
come  again ;  and  the  means  of  travel  grow  so  much  more  easy 
and  attractive  each  year,  that  the  coming  is  less  and  less  diffi- 
cult. There  is  a  section  called  the  American  Quarter.  I  am 
afraid  it  is  the  gaudiest  and  most  expensive  in  Paris.      In  this 


AMERICAN  COL  ON  \  \ 


137 


quarter  you  find  newspapers  addressed  to  the  American  taste ; 
drinking  shops  with  the  latest  American  contrivance  in  beve- 
rages; bazaars,  where  American  fashions  are  taught  in  apparel. 
The  hotels  cultivate  American  custom,  and  pander  to  a  sup- 
posed American  appetite  for  fishballs  and  buckwheat  cakes. 
The  American  section  includes  the  Champs  Elysees,  the  Boule- 
vard Haussmann,  the  Grand  Hotel,  and  Grand  Opera  Quarter, 
and    the    radius    of    wide,    magnificent    avenues    which    sweep 


BOIS    DE    BOULOGNE. 


around  the  Arch  of  Triumph.  It  is  noted  that  in  this  quarter 
the  tradesmen  paint  American  coats  of  arms  on  their  windows, 
and  charge  twenty-five  per  cent,  more  for  their  wares  than  their 
neighbors  over  the  river.  There  are  American  clergymen  who 
minister  to  your  spiritual  comfort ;  and  the  American  dentist 
becomes  an  institution  almost  royal  in  its  relations  and  appli- 
ances. There  is  a  Fourth  of  July  which,  in  ancient  days,  was 
wont  to  be  the  season  for  patriotic  refreshment  of  soul.  But 
since  the  jar  which  the  war  gave  to  our  patriotism,  Americans 
do  not  come  together  as  much  as  in  the  past,  and  the  eagle-wor- 


138 


PARIS— PRINCIPAL   PLACES   OF  INTER  EST. 


ship,  which  in  other  days  was  a  characteristic  of  our  people, 
has  faded  away.  There  was  something  of  a  revival  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  coming  of  General  Grant,  which,  let  us  hope,  may 
be  the  beginning  of  a  better  and  kinder  era. 

The  center  and  head  of  the  colony  is  the  American  Minister. 
Washburne  reigned  for  many  years,  and  Noyes  reigns  in  his 
stead.  Washburne  is  remembered  as  a  sturdy,  prompt,  brave, 
kindly  man,  who  won  renown  by  remaining  at  his  post  during  the 
siege  and  the  Commune,  when  the  other  diplomatists  ran  away. 


IvUE    DB    KIVUL1 — ST.   ]A 


Washburne,  as  I  have  shown,  is  not  much  liked  by  the  French 
because  of  his  supposed  German  sympathies;  but  I  presume  it 
was  the  fact  that  he  was  assigned  to  the  care  of  the  German 
residents  in  Paris  that  led  to  the  impression  that  he  took  sides 
in  the  war.  It  was  a  severe  bit  of  work,  and  no  American  can  read 
the  story  of  our  Minister's  devotion  without  increased  respect 
for  his  character.  The  old  relations  between  Washburne  and 
General  Grant  would  have  made  it  pleasant  for  the  Minister 
to  welcome  the  President.  But  this  was  not  to  be.  When 
General  Grant  came  Washburne  had  gone,  and  General  Noyes 


RUE  DU   CHAILLOT.  r2n 

reigned  in  his  stead.  General  Noyes  is  a  young  man,  who 
came  to  Paris  with  an  honorable  record — the  record  of  a  man 
who  had  risen  from  poverty  to  the  highest  office  in  his  State, 
who  by  the  processes  of  self-education  had  become  a  famous 
member  of  the  Ohio  Bar,  and  who  when  the  war  broke  out  went 
into  our  volunteer  army.  One  of  his  legs  was  left  in  Georgia, 
and  he  shows  traces  of  suffering  in  his  keen,  handsome  face. 
His  is  an  honorable  record  in  peace  and  in  war,  and  it  was 
pleasant  to  see  in  so  important  a  post  as  the  mission  to  France 
one  who  had  given  his  blood  for  the  Union.  The  Consul  Gen- 
eral, General  Torbert,  had  commanded  a  division  under  Sheridan, 
and  succeeded  the  amiable,  accomplished,  and  ever-kindly  Mere- 
dith Read.  After  Torbert,  Fairchild  was  to  come.  Of  him 
too  it  may  be  said  that  his  record  was  an  honorable  one.  In 
his  boyhood  days  he  crossed  the  plains,  and  was  among  the 
Argonauts  of  California.  He  returned  home,  and  became 
Governor  of  Wisconsin.  He  lost  an  arm  in  the  war,  and  his 
dangling  sleeve,  like  the  shorn  limb  of  the  Minister,  is  an  elo- 
quent suggestion  of  what  our  citizens  did  for  the  Union.  Al- 
though it  was  a  disappointment  to  General  Grant  not  to  meet 
his  old  friend  Washburne,  it  was  pleasant  to  have  in  official 
places  men  who  had  served  under  him  in  the  war,  and  whose 
records  had  been  so  creditable  as  those  of  Noyes,  Torbert,  and 
Fairchild. 

Around  the  legation  and  the  consulate  the  colony  revolves. 
General  Noyes  holds  his  court  on  the  Rue  du  Chaillot,  the  old 
hill  of  Chaillot  that  you  find  in  the  early  maps  of  Paris.  If  one 
place  was  not  as  near  as  another  in  Paris  this  might  be  called 
out  of  the  way,  but  I  can  well  understand  how  a  legation  might 
be  too  near  for  comfort.  The  tendency  of  the  American  mind 
to  seek  his  minister  upon  all  occasions  when  he  is  overcharged 
for  candles,  when  he  has  lost  his  baggage,  when  he  is  homesick, 
and  lacks  in  themes  of  conversation,  when  the  mails  are  irregu- 
lar, when  the  right  gloves  have  not  come  home  from  the  bazaar, 
would  make  the  legation  a  burden  if  it  were  too  convenient  of 
access.  The  fact  of  an  American  being  a  taxpayer  gives  him 
a   sense   of   possession   in    dealing  with   ministers   and   consuls 


140 


PARIS— PRINCIPAL   PLACES    OF  INTEREST. 


which  it  is  inconvenient  to  question.  There  are  other  centers, 
however,  in  Paris,  besides  the  legation  :  the  newspaper  offices 
in  the  Rue  Scribe,  the  banking  houses,  the  leading  hotels.  In 
journalism  there  is  The  American  Register,  the  property  of  Dr. 
Evans,  and  under  the  control  of  Dr.  Crane.  The  Register 
is  the  oldest  of  American  journals  on  the  continent,  and  its  real 
advantage  is  as  a  bulletin  which  tells  every  American  in  Europe 
where  every  other  American  resides.  Through  its  columns  the 
members  of  our  colony  can  touch  elbows,  and  feel  themselves 
-   --—-       -     ,     at  home.   There  is  another 


journal  called  The  Gazette, 
under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Kremer,  who  was  formerly 
the  publisher  of  The  Regis- 
ter, and  which  shows  the 
energy  of  new  and  ambi- 
tious undertakings.  Mon- 
roe has  a  banking  house  on 
the  Rue  Scribe,  while  the 
famous  house  of  Drexel 
will  lend  you  money  or  sell 
you  bonds  on  the  Boule- 
vard Haussmann.  On  the 
Avenue  de  l'Opera  is  the 
office  of  the  New  York 
Herald.  This  avenue  is 
too  beautiful  to  be  called  a 
vandalism,  but  those  who 
loved  old  Paris,  who  remember  the  curious  streets  and  byways, 
every  street  a  remembrance  of  the  past  and  every  corner  tinted 
by  some  historical  association ;  those  who  remember  what  a  plea- 
sure it  was,  for  instance,  to  leave  the  boulevard  at  Rue  Neuve 
Saint  Augustin  and  lose  yourself  in  its  devious  winding  ways, 
feeling  that  around  you  was  the  Paris  of  Henry  IV.  and  Louis 
XIV.,  until  you  came  into  the  sylvan  inclosures  of  the  Palais 
Royal  ;  those  who  remember  what  a  pleasing  stroll  it  was,  and 
what  a  comfort  to  plunge  out  of  the  fresh  and  modern  Paris, 


PAVILION    OK   THE    OfERA. 


AVENUE  DE  L' OPERA. 


HI 


and  revel  in  the  quaint  and  dying  past,  will  resent  the  Avenue 
de  l'Opera.  But  it  had  to  be.  In  new  Paris  it  was  necessary 
to  have  a  shorter  road  from  the  Grand  Opera  House  to  the 
palace  of  the  Louvre. 
So  this  avenue  came  into 
being,  like  the  Boulevard 
Haussmann,  the  Boule- 
vard St.  Germain,  the 
Street  of  the  Fourth 
September,  and  other 
pretentious  avenues. 
The  map  was  taken,  and 
a  line  was  drawn  direct 
from  the  steps  of  the 
Grand  Opera  House  to 
the  gates  of  the  Louvre. 
The  Republic  did  this, 
and  it  was  commended 
at  the  time  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  fact  that  Re- 
public and  Empire  were 
alike  animated  by  a  desire 
to  improve  and  beautify 
Paris.  The  Avenue  of 
the  Opera  is  a  beautiful  street  with  beauty  of  a  pretentious 
kind.  As  you  turn  from  the  boulevard,  from  the  Rue  de  la 
Paix,  along  which  falls  the  shadow  of  the  Vendome  Column, 
you  come  to  one  of  the  centers  of  the  American  colony,  the 
office  of  the  New  York  Herald.  This  office  is  among  the 
shrines  of  the  American  abroad.  He  can  hear  all  the  news. 
He  can  write  his  name  on  the  register,  and  know  that  it  will  be 
called  next  morning  to  New  York,  and  his  presence  in  Paris 
spread  to  an  envious  or  admiring  world  at  home.  He  can  read 
all  about  home,  for  here  is  the  best  reading-room  in  Europe. 
Whether  he  comes  from  Pennsylvania  or  Oregon,  Maine  or 
Texas,  he  will  find  his  home  paper,  and  read  all  about  the 
church  and  the  county  fair,   the  latest  murder  or  the  pending 


GENERAL   GRANT    AT  THE   HERALD  OFFICE. 


142 


PARIS— PRINCIPAL   PLACES   OF  INTEREST. 


canvass — deaths  and  marriages.  Perchance  he  will  find  some 
wandering  brother,  and  there  will  ensue  comforting  chat  about 
America,  and  how  much  cheaper  it  is  than  Paris,  and  what 
scoundrels  these  Frenchmen  are,  especially  in  the  matter  of 
candles.  If  he  has  any  news  to  bestow,  Mr.  Ryan,  who  is  in 
charge  of  the  office,  and  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  distin- 
guished members  of  The  Herald  staff,  will  listen  with  an  eager 
and  discerning  ear. 

The  Herald  office  was  one  of  the  favorite  haunts  of  General 
Grant  in  Paris.  He  would  slip  in  of  a  morning  and  seek  out  a 
quiet  corner,  and  brood  over  the  newspapers  for  an  hour  or  two. 
There  are  other  haunts  patronized  by  the  colony.  There  is 
the  club-house,  the  Washington  Club,  over  which  Colonel  Eve- 
lyn presides,  where  members  may  discuss  baccarat  for  twenty 
thousand  dollars,  or  the  Athanasian  creed,  just  as  they  please, 
for  the  deliberations  of  this  club  are  secret.  The  colony  breaks 
up  into  little  zones  or  worlds,  in  which  there  is  not  always  the 
harmony  that  you  could  wish.  There  is  a  Congress  or  a  Jaco- 
bin Club,  which  holds  sessions  in  the  Grand  Hotel.  You  can 
obtain  admittance  to  this  assembly  by  the  franchise  of  a  cigar 
or  a  glass  of  wine.  The  colony  has  class  distinctions  and 
draws  lines.  There  is  the  old  resident  and  the  new  resident; 
the  American  in  trade  ;  the  idle  American  ;  the  American  who 
speaks  French  ;  the  one  who  does  not,  but  always  buys  a 
French  newspaper  and  pretends  to  read  it  in  public  in  a  dazed 
condition.  There  is  the  colonist  who  has  family  relationships 
— the  colonist  who  never  obtrudes  his  domestic  life  upon 
friends  ;  the  American  who  wears  the  red  ribbon  of  the  Legion 
of  Honor;  the  democrat,  who  despises  all  such  aristocratic 
nonsense,  but  who  would  give  a  good  slice  of  his  income  to  be 
able  to  wear  it  without  clanger  from  the  police.  These  are 
the  phases  of  colonial  life  which  are  apparent  to  the  looker-on 
in  Paris  ;  but  under  all  is  another  phase  which  you  must  know 
Paris  well  to  know  it  at  all — the  real  life  in  Paris,  the  life  of  those 
who  come  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  higher  phases  of  Paris 
society. 

There  are   those  who  belong  to  what  might  be  called  the 


THE    VIRTUOSO    CO  LOW. 


143 


virtuoso  colony.  The  members  form  that  uneasy  class  of  peo- 
ple who  collect  things.  There  are  many  phases  in  this  class : 
the  virtuoso  who  is  a  kind  of  pawnbroker  or  Chatham-street 
dealer  of  the  Original  Jacobs  tendency,  and  who  runs  from  one 
bric-a-brac  and  curiosity  shop  to  another,  buying  all  that  is  cu- 
rious and  odd,  to  be  resold  to  American  customers  in  the  sum- 
mer. There  are  some  in  the  colony  who  follow  the  trade,  who 
will  sell  you  anything  from  a  china  jug  of  Louis  XIV.'s  time 


to  a  stolen  fragment  of  the  Column  Venddme,  and  failing  to 
make  five  hundred  per  cent,  profit,  will  take  five.  There  is  one 
collector  whose  hobby  is  the  French  Revolution.  A  picture, 
print,  or  book  on  the  French  Revolution  is  to  him  a  source  of 
joy.  He  is  a  bit  crazed  on  the  subject,  and  will  spend  an  after- 
noon on  the  quays  among  the  old-book  stores,  and  if  he  can 
find  a  print  of  Mirabeau,  a  colored  caricature  of  Robespierre, 
or  an  edition  of  Pere  Duchesne,  goes  home  in  triumph.  If  he 
has  one  rare  print  and  sees  another  of  the  same,  he  will  buy  it, 
not  because  he    needs  it,  but  to  prevent   some   one   else   from 


144 


PARIS— PRINCIPAL   PLACES    OF  INTEREST. 


possessing  it.  I  know  another,  a  most  respected  member  of 
the  colony,  whose  taste  is  for  books  and  prints  illustrating  the 
American  Revolution.  There  was  a  time  when  Paris  was  a 
mine  for  those  who  had  fancies  in  this  way.  America  and 
France  were  so  closely  connected  during  the  Revolution  that  a 
great  part  of  the  literature  of  the  country  was  tinted  with 
events  in  the  Jerseys  and  Virginia,  and  the  achievements  of  the 
famous  General  Washington.      Franklin,  residing  in   Paris  for 


NOTKE    DAME. 


several  years,  had  French  sympathies,  and  was  honored  by  the 
French  people.  I  do  not  know  how  many  portraits  of  Franklin 
there  are,  but  I  have  heard  hundreds  as  the  figure.  To  collect 
these  Franklins,  to  have  copies  of  the  peculiar  prints,  those 
with  a  turn  to  the  nose  or  an  extra  button  to  the  garment,  or 
rudely  engraved  and  with  no  more  resemblance  to  the  philoso- 
pher than  to  any  conspicuous  figure  in  that  history — any  odd, 
quaint,  or  unusual  Franklin — is  a  rare  pleasure. 

There  was  a  collector  who  had  an  admiration  for  Napoleon 
the  First.  So  he  searched  and  inquired  and  purchased  until 
he  had  "a  collection."     One  day  he  was  in  the  Latin  Quarter 


THE    VIRTUOSO    COLONY.  x*r 

discussing  his  fancy  with  a  dealer  in  prints.  "  How  many  dif- 
ferent prints  of  Napoleon  are  there?"  "Three  thousand," 
was  the  answer.  There  is  another  of  the  colony  whose  spe- 
cialty is  the  Commune.  This  came  and  flourished  and  fell  in 
1871.  One  would  think  that  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to 
eather  the  records  of  that  brief  and  recent  time.  But  there 
are  necessary  documents  and  copies  of  proclamations  and  news- 
papers of  the  Commune  as  difficult  to  buy  as  those  of  the 
French  Revolution.  Another  of  my  virtuoso  friends  has  a 
fancy  for  Horace.  Let  it  come  in  any  shape,  any  translation 
or  style,  and  the  day  that  brings  it  is  calendared  among  the 
red-letter  annals.  Another  finds  life  only  supportable  through 
the  painter  Velasquez.  My  friend  spends  his  time  in  going 
from  place  to  place,  wherever  there  is  a  reputed  work  of  Ve- 
lasquez, to  look  at  it,  and  dwell  upon  the  color  and  the  move- 
ment, and  the  clear  life  and  light  that  come  from  the  marvel- 
ous canvas.  Others  collect  old  china  and  porcelain.  Of  this 
I  know  little — my  fancies  in  the  cup  and  plate  line  being  easily 
satisfied.  But  I  am  told  that  no  fascination  grows  upon  the 
collector  with  more  power  than  this  for  china,  and  that  some  of 
our  countrymen  have  been  known  to  experience  emotions  of  an 
agitating  nature  upon  discovering  a  plate  of  the  time  of  Louis 
XIV.  There  are  collectors,  too,  whose  designs  in  the  collect- 
ing line  are  neither  quaint  nor  high  nor  patriotic,  but  who  have 
grossly  diseased  fancies  for  things  forbidden  to  men.  Of  such 
one  writes  with  pain  and  anger. 

There  are  types  not  classes  of  an  original  character.  There 
is  the  stout  old  dowager,  who  has  three  daughters  she  wants  to 
marry,  and  she  trails  them  from  Paris  to  the  Springs,  and  from 
the  Springs  to  Paris,  and  to  Italy  and  the  Pyrenees.  You 
always  encounter  her  just  when  you  don't  want  to  be  bothered ; 
and  she  informs  you  how  that  horrid  beast  in  yellow  whiskers 
came  so  near  marrying  Matilda  ;  but  he  was  not  a  count  or  a 
Prussian  officer — only  an  adventurer  from  Wiesbaden.  Then 
comes  your  friend  the  British  officer,  once  in  the  Guards,  who 
plays  billiards,  and  likes  Americans  so  much  that  he  will  not 
consort  with    Englishmen.      He   says   he   is  a  relative  of  the 


146 


PARIS— PRINCIPAL   PLACES  OF  INTEREST. 


Duke  of  Bethnal  Green,  and  wears  his  colors.  Our  British 
friend  has  troubles  with  his  family,  and  they  limit  his  allowance  ; 
when  he  becomes  thirty  he  will  have  his  money,  and  a  little 
loan  until  that  time  would  be  so  jolly — and  if  you  would  like  to 
know  the  Duke,  be  at  Chantilly  on  Sunday.  Then  we  have  our 
friend  the  Count,  who  speaks  English  with  such  a  clear  accent, 
and  has  been  all  over  America,  and  will  become  a  director  in 
your  company  and  place  shares  with  his  noble  family  for  ,£5,000. 


Then  you  have  your  Irish  friend,  whose  French — barring  the 
Tipperary  accent — is  fluent,  who  is  a  graduate  of  Trinity  Col- 
lege, and  was  punished  for  his  devotion  to  the  true  cause,  and 
found  times  bad  enough  even  in  New  York,  and  would  like  to 
travel  with  you,  and  pay  his  share  of  the  expenses,  if  you  could 
advance  him  a  little  until  he  hears  from  his  bankers.  Then 
you  have  your  friend  who  chews  tobacco  and  sees  nothing  in 
Paris  to  compare  with  America,  and  he  has  an  invention,  and 
wants  to  ascertain  how  he  can  invite  the  whole  Paris  press  to  a 
dejeuner;  never  mind  the  expense — a  bottle  of  champagne   on 


BOIS  DE  BOCLOGXE. 


147 


each  side  of  each  plate,  if  necessary.  Then  you  have  your 
friend  who  belongs  to  the  Church,  and  has  a  cough,  and  travels 
on  a  purse  made  up  by  his  congregation,  and  means  when  he 
reaches  Rome  to  deliver  a  lecture  against  the  Catholics ;  who 
wants  to  dispute  with  the  Pope  in  person,  who  eats  an  early 
breakfast,  is  always  on  the  run  from  one  palace  to  another,  and 
carries  a  carpet-bag  with  him,  which  holds  his  clothes.  Then 
comes  your  sharp  young  man,  who  crosses  the  ocean  six  times  a 
year — as  purchaser  of  goods  for  wholesale  houses  in  New  York, 


lljytp: 


THE   LOUVRE. 


and  knows  the  best  tables  d'hote,  and  tells  English  travelers 
of  the  horrors  of  American  life,  and  how  no  prudent  man 
would  walk  up  Broadway  without  carrying  a  loaded  pistol, 
and  how  Americans  are  dying  for  a  monarchy,  and  would  like 
to  be  ruled  over  by  one  of  the  Queen's  sons.  Then  you  have 
your  friend  who  is  always  in  trouble,  whom  no  one  treats  well, 
who  suffers  from  a  succession  of  unappeasable  wrongs ;  and  you 
lend  him  a  hundred  francs  to  pay  the  landlady  who  is  actually 
in  possession,  and  have  your  own  thoughts  when  you  see  him 
beaming  with  smiles,  riding  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  in  the 
afternoon  with — well,  we  need  not  be  too  particular. 

There  are  colonists  that  one  does  not  meet  at  the  Grand 


148 


PARIS— PRINCIPAL   PLACES   OF  INTEREST. 


Hotel  or  on  the  boulevards.  One  who  knows  told  me  that 
during  the  siege  Americans  came  to  light  of  whose  existence 
the  legation  was  not  aware.  Some  come  for  study  and 
rest — literary  people  and  artists — who  slip  down  to  Fontaine- 
bleau  during  the  summer,  and  in  the  winter  do  their  work  in 
quiet  out-of-the-way  studios,  over  near  the  Luxembourg.  When 
Mr.  Lowell  came  to  Paris  he  took  an  apartment  in  the  Latin 
Quarter,   near    the    libraries,  and  was    never  seen  in  hotel  or 


AMERICANS   AT  THE  GRAND  HOTEL. 


banking  house.  Here  he  entertained  Mr.  Emerson,  and  I 
question  if  one  colonist  out  of  twenty  knew  that  two  of  the 
most  famous  Americans  of  the  day  were  dwelling  with  them. 
As  an  art  center  Paris  is  not  as  pretentious  as  Florence  or 
Rome.  There  is  no  such  gallery  as  in  Madrid  or  Dresden. 
But  good  work  has  a  perpetual  market,  and  around  Paris  there 
are  endless  opportunities  for  study  and  observation.  In  Paris 
it  is  so  easy  to  burrow  into  the  deep  earth  and  hide  away,  with 
no  care  for  society  or  kid  gloves.  Paris  is  a  charming  place  for 
true  literary  work.    Writing  people — who  suffer  from  the  damp, 


RUE  ST.  HON  ORE.  !4q 

depressing  fogs  of  London  and  the  roar  and  fever  of  New 
York  life,  say  that  Paris  has  a  tranquillity  and  sunshine  that 
they  do  not  find  elsewhere.  When  the  mind  becomes  jaded 
and  will  not  obey  the  spur,  there  are  the  outlying  forests  and 
lone  walks  in  the  Bois,  and  little  runs  to  Sceaux  to  dine  under 
the  chestnut  trees,  or  a  day  at  Versailles  to  see  the  fountains 
play. 

If  the  colonist  is  literary  and  historical  in  his  tastes,  he  will 
find  inspiration  in  the  associations  of  the  wonderful  city.  You 
may  walk  miles  and  miles  along  the  Paris  streets  and  almost  at 
every  step  you  have  palaces  and  palace  ruins,  from  the  wall  of 
the  baths  where  the  Roman  emperor  Julian  bathed,  down  to 
the  charred  wall  of  the  Tuileries.  But  under  this  is  a  history. 
Here,  for  instance,  lived  Robespierre.  It  is  a  plain,  dingy 
house,  on  the  Rue  St.  Honore — a  house  of  his  time,  as  the 
architecture  shows,  but  now  occupied  by  a  tradesman.  Duplay, 
the  carpenter,  and  the  daughter,  and  Robespierre,  with  his  dog, 
have  vanished  like  shadows  ;  and  this  narrow  gateway,  which 
looks  so  dark  now,  and  through  which  passed  and  repassed  the 
first  men  of  France  in  the  anxious  days  of  terror,  is  given  over 
to  workmen  who  plod  in  and  out,  and  tradesmen  who  chaffer 
with  you  over  a  bargain.  And  you  have  only  to  take  a  short 
walk  along  the  route  paced  daily  in  those  days  by  Robespierre 
himself,  and  you  come  to  the  site  of  the  Jacobin  Club,  where 
Mother  Jacobin  ruled  until  Thermidor  came.  But  club  and 
club  house,  and  all  the  men  and  women  who  were  wont  to 
gather  there,  have  gone  into  the  realms  of  silence,  and  now  you 
see  a  commodious  market-house,  and  burly  women  cry  fish  on 
the  spot  where  Danton  once  thundered.  Nor  is  it  far  to  the 
old  Church  of  St.  Roch,  which  has  this  memory — that  one  Na- 
poleon Bonaparte  found  the  beginning  of  his  career  here — for 
St.  Roch  is  the  church  which  was  held  by  the  insurrectionists 
when  he,  as  general  of  the  Convention,  opened  upon  them 
with  real  powder  and  ball,  and  so  ended  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. Cross  the  river  and  see  the  top  garret-room  which  Na- 
poleon and  Junot  occupied  at  five  francs  a  month — the  darkest 
shadows  ahead — nothing  to  do  but  to  sit  brooding  and  looking 


ISO 


PARIS— -PRINCIPAL   PLACES   OF  INTEREST. 


out  at  the  Tuileries,  sweeping  so  majestically  before  them  and 
mocking  their  fate  with  the  irony  of  its  grandeur.  You  may 
return  and  cross  the  boulevard  and  walk  a  little  way  toward 
Montmartre,  and  see  the  house  where  Napoleon  lived  when  he 
returned  from  Egypt.  It  is  on  the  Rue  de  la  Victoire.  When 
he  went  to  live  there  with  Josephine  it  was  called  Rue  Chau- 
tereine,  but  in  his  honor  it  was  named  the  Street  of  Victory, 
and  is  so  named  until  this  day ;  and  you  may  see  his  home, 
where  was  planned  the  Eighteenth  of  Brumaire,  with  its  open 


NEW    OPERA    HOI      I- 


court-yard,  which  has  a  general  appearance  of  dinginess  and 
looks  like  the  court-yard  of  a  livery  stable.  While  in  this 
vicinity  you  may  see  where  Mirabeau  lived  and  died,  and  in 
the  room  underneath  you  may  now  suit  yourself  with  hats  and 
caps  ;  or  you  may  continue  your  inquiries  and  discover  the 
house  where  John  Paul  Marat,  "the  friend  of  the  people,"  was 
taking  his  bath  one  day  when  Charlotte  Corday  stabbed  him. 

Two  institutions  around  which  our  colony  centers  harmoni- 
ously are  the  circus  and  the  Bon  Marche.  Saturday  is  the 
evening  given  to  fashion  ;  and  upon  every  Saturday  evening 
you  will  find  the  high  benches  and  uncomfortable  seats  crammed 


AU  BON  MAR  CHE. 


151 


with  the  American  colony.  Here  all  distinctions  are  lost.  Here 
the  lords  of  the  Washington  Club  and  the  commoners  of  the 
Conoress,  in  the  Grand  Hotel,  assemble  in  strength.  Next  to 
the  circus,  as  an  institution,  is  "  Au  Bon  Marche."  If  there 
are  fond  husbands  who,  having  visited  Paris,  read  these  words, 
I  know  what  memories  they  recall.  O  fellow  countrymen, 
who  love  and  honor  and  have  vowed  to  protect  and  cherish, 
when  you   come  to   Paris  avoid  "  Au    Bon    Marche"!     Who 


PONT  NEUF. 


enters  here  with  a  full  purse,  and  wife  and  daughter  in  train, 
must  leave  all  hope  behind,  at  least  while  the  money  holds  out. 
"Au  Bon  Marche"  is  a  magazine  for  the  sale  of  everything 
that  woman  can  crave.  When  you  compass  what  is  meant  by 
this  definition,  you  will  know  its  dangers  and  temptations.  I 
mention  it  as  one  of  a  class — a  vast  class.  You  run  against 
stores  of  this  character  all  over  Paris.  They  are  named  like 
the  cafes  and  the  taverns,  but  with  a  wider  sweep  of  fancy. 
"The  Scottish  Mountains,"  "The  Carnival  of  Venice,"  "The 
Spring,"  "The   Great    House  of   Peace,"  "The  Good  Devil," 


15- 


PARIS— PRINCIPAL   PLACES    OF  INTEREST. 


"The  Infant  Jesus,"  "Old  England,"  "A  Thousand  and  One 
Nights."  These  are  some  of  the  names  given  to  the  dry-goods 
stores,  or  rather  shops,  containing  all  that  woman  can  need  or 
crave,  and  where  Americans  are  expected  to  come  and  squan- 
der their  fortunes. 

Our  countryman  when  he  comes  to  Europe  not  as  a  colonist, 
but  as  a  sojourner,  finds  a  fascination  in  Paris.  He  plans  his 
continental  trip,  and  you  bid  him  farewell  at  the  railway  station, 


AU    BON    MAKCHE. 


and  see  him  disappear  with  hat-box,  cane,  shawl,  umbrella,  soft 
felt  hat,  and  guide  books,  and  say  again  "  Good-by,"  as  though 
you  would  not  see  him  for  a  season.  In  a  week  or  two  you 
run  against  him  on  the  boulevards,  most  probably  wearing  a 
new  style  of  hat,  and  learn  that  he  has  "  done  "  the  Continent, 
and  means  to  have  another  "  go  "  at  Paris. 

During  the  midsummer  months  the  self-constituted  Congress 
in  the  Grand  Hotel  is  well  attended,  and  the  home-sick  Ameri- 
can will  have  his  heart  gladdened  by  the  sharp  cockatoo  accent 
in  which  he  hears  the  English  language  spoken,  reminding  him 


"THE   CONGRESS."  ,ri 

so  noisily  of  home.  This  Congress  is  easy  of  access.  Social 
distinctions  are  overlooked.  I  have  seen  the  Congress  in  full 
session,  attended  by  a  gambler,  a  doctor  of  divinity,  two  or  three 
bankers,  a  general  officer  of  the  army,  and  one  or  two  fraudu- 
lent bankrupts.  The  members  were  harmonious  and  discoursed 
in  company,  they  drank  out  of  the  same  wine-bottle,  and  talked 
at  the  top  of  their  voices,  and  almost  quarreled  as  to  who  should 
pay  for  the  wine.  But  as  the  summer  dies  away  the  Congress 
thins  out.  Some  hurry  home  ;  others  go  to  the  south  ;  and 
whoever  enters  the  high  and  stately  room  toward  November 
will  see  a  painful  spectacle.  The  last  American  of  the  season, 
deserted  by  his  companions,  sits  over  his  third  bottle  of  wine, 
vainly  looking  for  a  familiar  face,  smoking  a  mammoth  cigar, 
his  feet  spread  over  a  chair,  his  eye  looking  dismally  at  the 
carving  and  the  decorations  and  the  equipages  that  come  and  go. 
The  familiar  faces  have  fled.  There  is  no  one  to  whom  he  can 
express  his  contempt  for  the  French  nation — no  one  to  whom 
he  can  impart  his  information  as  to  what  Bismarck  ought  to 
have  done.  He  is  stranded  and  alone.  On  mail  days  he  has 
his  American  paper  as  a  comfort,  and  the  eagerness  with  which 
he  reads  that  journal  would  delight  its  editors.  Down  to  the 
last,  the  very  last  items,  marriages  and  deaths  and  ship  news 
and  advertisements,  beginning  with  the  personal  column,  he 
ruminates  and  reads  again  and  again,  until  nature  summons 
him  to  his  champagne. 

If  we  asked  this  belated  American  what  he  thought  of 
Frenchmen,  he  would  state  his  opinion  that  they  were  vastly 
overrated  in  the  accomplishments  which  all  the  world  assigns 
to  them.  No  Frenchman,  strange  to  say,  can  cook.  He  may 
make  a  little  salad,  or  some  inefficient  sauce,  but  for  a  "  square 
meal  "  give  our  American  friend  a  good  old-fashioned  Virginia 
negro  grandmamma,  who  understands  hoe-cake.  There  are  no 
oysters  in  France,  and  the  few  that  may  be  had  for  their  weight 
in  hard  money  are  a  poor  consolation  for  the  body  accustomed 
to  saddle-rocks  and  blue-points.  Our  friend  will  confound 
you  on  this  cookery  question  by  showing  that  there  is  not  an 
oyster  stew  in  all  this  great  city.     There   is  champagne,  to  be 


154 


PARIS— PRIXC1PAL   PLACES   OF  INTEREST. 


sure,  so  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  American  abroad  as  well  as  at 
home ;  but  champagne,  according  to  his  theory,  is  made  by 
Germans  and  German  capital.  Cheese  is  a  grievance  to  him. 
How  any  human  being  can  eat  French  cheese,  and  why  every 
French  waiter  will  insist  upon  offering  our  compatriot  cheese  at 
various  stations  of  the  meal,  is  something  he  cannot  understand, 
unless  there  be  some  hidden  insult  to  all  the  world  in  the  com- 
position of  the  cheese — a  circumstance  he  is  disposed  to  be- 
lieve. 


ST.    EUSTACHE. 


This  same  countryman  believes  that,  as  a  general  thing, 
French  ladies  are  in  the  habit  of  dancing  at  the  Jardin  Mabille. 
Have  I  described  Mabille  ?  I  am  half  afraid  of  that  shrine. 
Well,  Mabille  is  a  garden  just  off  the  Champs  Elysees,  where 
you  pay  a  moderately  large  fee  for  entrance.  There  are  one  or 
two  small  fountains,  wooded  walks,  a  shooting  gallery,  little 
alcoves,  where  you  may  sip  coffee  or  what  not,  and  a  profusion 
of  colored  lanterns  blaze  everywhere,  on  painted  canvas,  that 
looks  like  endless  forests,  and  innumerable  mirrors  flash  the 
light  to  and  fro.      In  the  center  is  a  band  of  musicians  and  a 


JARDJM  MAB1LLE. 


155 


boarded  dancing  floor.  This  is  the  Jardin  Mabille.  Mabille  is 
himself  at  the  door,  with  his  keen,  Oriental  face,  taking  the 
money.  It  is  a  summer  garden,  and  the  music  and  dancing  are 
under  the  stars.  Well,  Mabille  has  in  his  employ  several  young 
women,  with  hard,  leering  faces,  and  several  young  men,  with 
shiny  hats,  who  mingle  around  in  the  crowd  as  though  they  had 
paid  to  come  in.  When  the  music  commences  (generally  the 
music  of  the  harmonious  Offenbach)  these  young  men  and 
women  rush  upon  the  boarded  floor  and  dance  peculiar  dances 
— the  "  Can-can,"  among  others — not  much  worse  than  I  have 
seen  it  on  the  New  York  stage.  Our  Paris-American  Congress, 
assembled  in  a  circle,  believes  that  it  sees  the  ladies  of  Paris  at 
a  common  evening  entertainment.  I  could  never  see  the  Jardin 
Mabille  except  to  be  disgusted  with  it,  and  why  our  American 
friends  should  visit  it  I  cannot  imagine,  except  that  Mabille  is 
said  to  be  a  very  bad  place,  and  they  attend  expecting  that  some- 
thing outrageous  will  certainly  happen.  I  do  not  imagine  that 
it  occurs  to  one  out  of  ten  of  our  observing  countrymen  that 
Mabille  is  simply  an  institution  kept  by  a  Frenchman  for  Eng- 
lish and  Americans  to  visit.  During  the  first  season  the  Ame- 
rican frequents  Mabille.  If  he  prolongs  his  stay,  and  becomes 
a  colonist,  he  takes  this  garden  at  its  value  and  never  visits  it 
at  all. 

An  instructive  exhibition  to  those  of  our  countrymen  who 
are  curious  about  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  nation  will  be 
found  over  in  the  Latin  Quarter,  in  the  dancing  hall  near  the 
Luxembourg.  There  is  a  low  entrance,  guarded  by  gensdarmes. 
A  circular  sun  of  blazing  red  light  points  the  way.  If  you  are 
curious  and  pause  a  moment,  you  will  see  in  the  light  the  figure 
of  a  soldier  in  bronze  on  a  pedestal,  in  the  attitude  of  command, 
his  hand  pointing  to  some  imaginary  foe.  This  bronze  figure 
represents  the  famous  Marshal  Ney,  and  on  this  spot,  where 
you  may  stand  and  hear  the  fiddling  and  the  dancing,  Marshal 
Ney  was  shot  by  French  soldiers  under  Louis  XVIII.  for  hav- 
ing commanded  French  soldiers  under  Napoleon.  This  dancing 
hall  on  Sunday  evening,  when  the  clerks  are  in  abundance,  or 
on  Thursday  evening,  when  the  students  come  in  numbers,  is 


1^6  PARIS— PRINCIPAL   PLACES   OF  INTEREST. 

not  without  its  attractions  to  the  observing  American  mind. 
The  romp  and  noise  and  clatter,  the  buzz  and  hum  of  loud 
conversation,  song  and  repartee,  smoking  and  drinking,  continue 
until  the  music  strikes  up  and  the  multitude  dissolves  into 
a  mass  of  dancing  humanity.  As  to  the  dancing,  I  cannot  say 
more  than  that  it  is  very  wild  and  clumsy,  and  I  have  heard  my 
American  brethren  condemn  it  in  strong  terms.  There  are 
other  dancing  halls  in  outside  sections,  and  one  especially  on 
the  Rue  St.  Honore,  much  frequented  by  our  countrymen, 
almost  opposite  where  Robespierre  lived. 

You  can  understand,  perhaps,  how  the  average  American 
abroad,  his  observations  limited  to  the  Luxembourg  and  Mabille, 
will  have  original  notions  as  to  the  morals  of  France.  The 
French  are  like  the  Chinese.  They  do  not  accept  the  foreigner. 
They  have  made  Paris  the  most  beautiful  city  in  the  world, 
because  they  are  artists  by  nature,  and  could  not  have  made  an 
ugly  city  had  they  tried.  Whether  you  see  Paris  in  detail  as 
you  go  roaming  along  the  boulevards,  or  see  it  by  day  from  the 
top  of  the  Arch  of  Triumph,  or  by  night  from  the  heights  of 
Montmartre,  you  are  impressed  with  its  marvelous  beauty. 
This  Paris  was  made  by  Frenchmen  for  Frenchmen.  But  there 
is  no  excess  of  welcome.  A  Frenchman  will  never  ask  how  you 
like  his  city.  Of  course  you  like  it,  and  know  and  feel  and 
are  glad  to  admit  that  for  beauty  and  taste  and  all  the  re- 
sources of  civilization  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  like  Paris. 
But  that  American  instinct  for  commendation  which  leads  the 
Yankee  to  call  every  post  village  a  "  city  "  and  every  alderman 
a  "  celebrated  "  man  is  not  found  amone  the  French.  There 
is  no  welcome  in  the  French  character  toward  the  foreigner, 
none  of  the  going  into  society  which  greets  the  foreigner  in 
America.  The  American  colony  is  regarded  very  much  by 
Paris  in  general  as  New  York  would  regard  a  German  colony 
in  Hoboken  or  a  colony  of  Poles  near  the  Bowery.  The  ave- 
rage Frenchman  when  he  thinks  of  America  is  apt  to  confound 
the  United  States  with  Brazil  and  Paraguay — to  think  of  it  all 
as  one  country,  inhabited  by  an  extravagant,  expensive,  and  in 
some  respects,  a  wild  people,  who,  strange  to  say,  are  white. 


SUMMER   SIGHT-SEERS. 


157 


Nor  is  this  surprising  when  one  considers  the  character  of  the 
representatives  of  our  country  who  come  to  Paris.  There  is, 
of  course,  the  class  accustomed  to  foreign  life  ;  studious  men, 
who  seek  the  Latin  Quarter  ;  business  men,  who  keep  in  trading 
circles  ;  the  American  gentleman,  with  his  "  European  habit  " 
upon  him,  who  knows  Paris  and  avoids  his  fellow  countrymen, 
and  lives  down  in  the  narrow  streets  toward  the  Palais  Royal. 
But  every  summer  there  comes  the  shoal  of  sight-seers  from 
England  and  America.     The  English  traveler  is  a  type  in  him- 


LUXEMBOURG    PALACE. 


self.  You  see  him  in  the  comedies,  in  the  satirical  papers ;  the 
children  play  with  a  toy  made  like  an  Englishman.  He  is 
described  as  a  man  with  one  eyeglass,  a  small  billycock  hat,  a 
plaided  coat  and  striped  trousers,  a  brown  hanging  beard,  an 
opera  glass  swung  over  his  shoulder,  and  the  inseparable  um- 
brella. This  is  the  Englishman  as  French  fancy  paints  him. 
So  he  was  to  our  fathers.  But  the  typical  American  changes 
with  every  season. 

There  was  the  hegira  of  "  war  Americans "  during  the 
Rebellion,  when  there  were  a  Southern  and  a  Northern  colony, 
who  used  to  frown  on  each  other  as  they  passed  along  the 


153 


PARIS— PRINCIPAL   PLACES    OF  I.XTEREST. 


boulevards.  The  French  police  had  their  hands  full  to  prevent 
these  Montagus  and  Capulets  from  doing  more  than  bite  their 
thumbs  at  one  another.  I  remember  a  comic  print  of  the  time, 
entitled  "  North  and  South  Americans  Discuss  Politics."  The 
scene  was  an  omnibus  on  a  boulevard,  filled  with  passengers. 
Seated  on  the  top  at  one  end  was  a  Northerner  with  a  pistol 
drawn,  firing  at  a  Southerner  at  the  other  end,  who  had  a  pistol 
drawn  also,  the  alarmed  passengers  striving,  in  every  attitude, 


*T    DKS   ARTS. 


to  avoid  the  shots.  French  feeling  was  much  with  the  South, 
upon  whose  supporters  the  Emperor  was  wont  to  smile  his 
gloomy,  inscrutable  smile.  After  the  cotton  loan  was  sold  and 
money  ran  short,  our  erring  countrymen  found  Paris  a  hard 
place,  and  were  reduced  to  many  shifts.  But  with  the  war  came 
the  shoddy  lords.  During  the  closing  years  of  the  war  this  class 
ran  over  Paris,  and  amazed  the  frugal  French  mind  by  extrava- 
gance  and  want  of  culture.  This  was  the  harvest  time  of  the 
cooks,  and  the  concierges,  and  waiters,  and  more  especially  the 
dealers  in  pictures  and  imitation  jewelry.     The  shoddy  lords 


THE  AMERICAN   COLOXIST. 


159 


were  followed  by  the  petroleum  aristocracy — an  astonishing 
class,  who  generally  came  in  groups,  under  a  competent  courier, 
who  spoke  all  languages  and  robbed  his  clients.  Then  came 
the  Tammany  hegira.  First  we  had  Mr.  Sweeny  and  some  of 
the  chiefs,  who  came  to  study  Paris,  so  that  they  might  gain 
hints  for  beautifying  New  York.  The  example  became  con- 
tagious, and  all  the  Americus  boys,  wearing  diamond  pins  and 
gaudy  scarfs,  drove  around  in  carriages  and  drank  champagne 
before  breakfast,  and  smoked  amazing  cigars,  and  gave  the 
waiters  a  napoleon  for  drink-money,  and  spent  their  time  in  riot 
and  folly.  As  most  of  these  astonishing  young  men  were  known 
as  colonels,  or  generals,  or  judges,  or  senators  in  Albany,  and 
as  in  their  interviews  with  Frenchmen  they  took  no  pains  to 
diminish  their  importance  at  home,  Frenchmen  began  to  have 
their  own  ideas  as  to  the  ruling  classes  of  our  dear  native  land. 
But  this  happy  hegira  came  to  an  end.  The  men  with  their 
diamonds  are  gone.  They  no 
longer  boast  of  their  con- 
sequence in  New  York. 

To  those  having  artistic  or 
literary  tastes,  Paris  has  im- 
mense attractions.  If  you  come 
here  a  stranger  and  under  au- 
spicious stars,  and  gain  entrance 
into  the  art  zone  or  the  literary 
zone,  you  are  blessed  among 
wayfarers,  and  Paris  comes  to 
you  as  you  would  never  see  it 
were  you  to  tramp  the  boule- 
vards  twenty  years.  The 
American  colonist,  thoroughly 
seasoned  in  Paris,  with  his 
European  habit  full  upon  him, 
is  in  the  main  a  pleasant  person.  He  has  acquired  the  best 
qualities  of  the  French.  He  does  not  hold  you  at  arm's  length 
and  give  you  his  views.  His  home  animosities  about  politics 
and  so  on  are  deadened,  and  in  their  stead  you  see  a  genuine, 


THE    BRIC-A-bRAC    DEALER. 


!6o  PARIS— PRINCIPAL   PLACES   OF  INTEREST. 

full-grown  patriotism — a  love  of  the  whole  country,  democratic 
and  republican.  The  finished  American  colonist  has  acquired 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  side  streets — he  is  the  discoverer 
of  the  oddest  out-of-the-way  places  for  dishes,  or  queer  prints, 
or  books,  or  odds  and  ends.  You  see  in  time  what  underlies 
the  French  varnish  of  Paris  life — that  French  varnish  which 
foreign  eyes  so  frequently  see  and  nothing  else.  You  have 
glimpses  of  the  true  life  in  France  and  learn  what  it  is  that  has 
made  this  people,  with  all  their  faults  and  misadventures,  the 
richest  and  thriftiest  in  the  world.  This  edge  of  colonial 
life  is  full  of  interest ;  but  has  it  no  drawback  ?  I  have  spoken 
of  what  is  called  the  European  habit,  and  of  the  advantage 
that  one  finds  in  foreign  travel  when  he  has  it  upon  him. 
"  Ah,  my  friend,"  said  a  wise  man  that  I  know,  who  has  lived 
many  years  here,  to  one  who  spoke  with  him  in  a  hopeful 
bright  way  about  coming  to  live  in  Paris  and  making  it  a  home, 
"Ah,  my  friend,  don't;  you  will  never  have  any  true  home 
elsewhere  should  this  Paris  fever  come  upon  you.  It  will 
not  come  at  first.  Madame  your  wife  will  see  many  things  to 
annoy  her.  If  she  is  religious  and  has  our  Puritan  notions, 
as  most  women  have,  whether  Catholic  or  Protestant,  she  will 
not  understand  the  theaters  being  open  on  Sunday  and  races  at 
Longchamps  on  the  same  day.  Then  there  are  social  and  per- 
sonal freedoms  permitted  to  men  and  women  which  fall  rudely 
upon  eyes  that  have  always  looked  at  such  things  behind  a  veil. 
This  never-ending  panorama  of  life  and  brightness  and  activity — 
these  boulevards,  the  passage  Choiseul,  the  Palais  Royal,  the 
Champs  Elysees — where  do  you  find  a  counterpart  ?  If  you 
are  poor  you  can  dine  at  Duval's  for  two  francs  ;  if  you  are 
rich  you  can  pay  a  hundred  at  Bignon's.  You  can  live  in  the 
Rue  du  Bac  at  fifty  francs  a  month,  or  in  the  Avenue  Gabriel  at 
a  thousand,  and  you  will  neither  lose  nor  gain  in  respectability. 
You  select  your  cafe.  You  give  John  a  few  sous  now  and 
then,  and  the  cafe  is  your  home.  So  in  time  the  habit  grows 
upon  you.  Life  is  so  smooth  !  The  Government  being  of  the 
paternal  kind,  does  so  many  things  for  you  that  you  lapse  into 
easy  ways.     Then  the  people  are  so  pleasant.      But  this  is  not 


THE  DISSATISFIED    COLONIST. 


161 


surprising.  A  Frenchman  is  always  pleasant,  but  it  is  only 
courtesy.  You  know  him  twenty  years,  and  he  is  as  agreeable 
in  the  end  as  in  the  beginning — no  more!  It  never  is  home. 
You  like  the  city,  you  grow  attached  to  certain  ways  and  places. 
You  form  a  sincere  regard  for  your  concierge;  but  it  is  not  home. 
You  never  take  root.  But  what  are  you  going  to  do  ?  You 
cannot  go  home.  Who  are  you  going  to  see  ?  Then  you  have 
your  European  ways,  which  are  not  the  ways  of  America.  You 
want  your  coffee  so,  and  so  it 
never  comes,  and  life  begins 
to  fret  you.  One  home  has 
gone,  and  you  have  not  gained 
another.  This  ever  running, 
rippling  stream  of  life,  many- 
tinted  as  the  rainbow  and  as 
full  of  joy  as  a  summer  wind, 
this  is  not  home  !  Then  think 
of  dying  here,  and  of  being 
buried  in  a  hearse  with  plumes 
and  coachmen  with  mourning 
garments — garments  that  have 
mourned  over  three  genera- 
tions, and  will  mourn  over 
three  more,  perhaps.  No,  my 
friend,  do  not  let  this  Euro- 
pean habit  come  upon  you,  or  you  will  one  day  be,  in  a  dreary 
sense,  a  man  without  a  country  and  a  home." 

These  are  the  words  of  a  colonist  who  knows  France  well — 
a  satisfied  colonist,  no  matter  what  his  griefs  may  be,  one  who 
loves  Paris  well.  But  we  come  to  the  dissatisfied  colonist — ■ 
the  American  who  sees  in  New  York  the  consummate  full- 
ness of  all  civilization.  He  cannot  leave  Paris.  He  must 
educate  his  children  or  attend  to  certain  business,  or  what  not. 
He  is  always  angry  with  the  French  people.  He  reads  the 
American  newspapers  with  hungry  eagerness,  and  is  in  a  state 
of  constant  excitement  over  events  in  New  York.  You  meet 
him  on  the  boulevard,   and  he  flashes   into   speculations  upon 


THE    DISGUSTED    AMERICAN. 


l62 


PARIS— PRINCIPAL   PLACES    OF  INTEREST. 


home  news,  and  surprises  you  with  his  averments  that  the  jury 
will  never  agree  to  convict  that  negro  of  arson  down  in  Arundel 
County.  His  French  is  not  of  an  illuminative,  descriptive  quality, 
and  he  supplements  it  by  swearing  at  the  coachmen,  who  take 
his  speeches  for  compliments,  and  smile  in  answer.  He  has  had 
a  quarrel  with  his  concierge,  with  his  bootmaker,  with  a  florist. 
It  was  a  question  of  ten  francs  with  the  latter,  and  it  was  taken 
before  one  justice  of  the  peace  and  another,  and  after  paying 


m^m. 


^m 


VILLEFRANC  III-. 


five  hundred  francs  in  costs,  he  won  his  case.  "  Ah,"  he  said 
to  the  writer,  "you  can  never  trust  the  French.  Bismarck 
should  have  exterminated  them.  They  are  all  cowards,  all 
hypocrites — all — worse  than  that.  I  have  lived  here  five  years, 
and  I  tell  you  I  never  saw  a  Frenchman  who  would  not  steal. 
They  are  monkeys  and  barbers.  I  was  at  a  French  party  the 
other  night,  and  it  shows  just  what  they  are.  None  of  your 
square-up-and-down  parties — champagne  and  cards  in  the  back 
room,  and  boned  turkey  and  terrapin,  like  civilized  people — 
but  ices  and  meringues  and  thin  little  cakes  and  liquors  ;  and 


THE    COLONIST   WITH  A   MARQUIS.  x6^ 

you  rush  out  into  the  corridor  and  smoke  a  cigarette  and  hurry 
back,  and  then  a  young  chap  with  a  stubby  mustache  stands  up 
and  reads  an  original  poem,  and  you  cannot  understand  what  he 
says  except  that  it  is  about  France  and  Germany,  and  Alsace 
and  Lorraine  ;  and  it  ends  '  Revenge  !  Revenge  !'  and  they  all 
shout  and  cry,  and  the  men  rush  up  and  kiss  him  on  both 
cheeks — yes,  on  both  cheeks,  the  fools.  If  I  had  my  way — 
but  let  me  tell  you  about  a  bill  I  got  last  month,  and  a  charge 
for  candles." 

But  is  there  any  society  abroad  for  the  colony?  Oh,  yes; 
very  charming  circles — French,  English,  and  American.  The 
colonist  who  can  speak  French,  to  begin  with,  is  an  object  of 
envy  and  reproach  to  those  who  cannot.  I  discover  also  that 
it  is  a  ereat  card  to  know  a  nobleman.  I  have  heard  of  one 
family  who  entertain  largely,  especially  floating  Americans  in 
summer,  who,  it  is  said,  keep  a  marquis.  This  nobleman  was 
in  distress,  and  had  a  dismal  home  down  in  Montmartre.  But  an 
enterprising  American  found  him  out,  and  during  the  summer 
when  he  gives  a  dinner,  the  marquis,  with  a  red  ribbon  in  his 
lappel,  is  present  and  presented.  This  gives  dignity  to  the  din- 
ner, and  has  a  majestic  effect  upon  the  American  guests.  Be- 
fore he  arrives  it  adds  to  the  zest  of  the  conversation  to  discuss 
whether  the  marquis  will  come,  whether  his  engagements  will 
allow  him  to  come,  whether  the  rumor  is  true  that  he  was  sud- 
denly summoned  to  the  Count  de  Chambord.  After  he  goes 
(which  is  early,  his  highness  not  finding  the  average  Ameri- 
can conversation  stimulating)  comes  the  discussion  of  the  mar- 
quis and  his  pedigree — Montmorency  at  least — grandfather 
guillotined  by  Robespierre.  The  circumstance  of  the  marquis 
being  actually  under  contract  to  wine  and  dine  at  so  much  a  day, 
for  the  benefit  of  free  and  independent  American  travelers,  I 
do  not  guarantee.  It  came  to  me  as  gossip  from  a  satirical, 
slighted  colonist,  who  had  not  been  asked  to  meet  the  marquis  ; 
and  who,  not  being  much  in  the  society  of  French  noblemen, 
has  the  conviction  that  they  are  very  poor  and  know  nothing 
except  to  play  on  the  violin  and  lie  in  wait  for  the  daughters 
of  wealthy  American  gentlemen,  who,  having  garnered  in  their 


y6*  PARIS— PRINCIPAL   PLACES   OF  INTEREST. 

millions  in  the  development  of  our  petroleum  industry,  or  in 
furnishing  supplies  to  our  brave  boys  in  the  field,  crave  a  coro- 
net for  their  family,  if  even  only  a  French  one. 

But  hold !  for  now  I  come  upon  enchanted  ground,  and 
before  me  stretches  a  vista  that  would  lead  far  beyond  the  pa- 
tience of  the  most  industrious  reader.  When  I  begin  to  speak 
of  counts,  I  fear  lest,  in  telling  tales  that  have  been  told  to  me, 
words  would  fall  wounding  where  I  have  no  right  to  wound. 
So  long  as  Americans  are  vain  of  title  and  rank  and  have  mar- 
riageable daughters,  so  long  as  our  petroleum  and  bonanza 
dowagers  see  in  a  coronet  a  glory  exceeding  the  glory  of  the 
sun,  or  the  moon,  or  an  army  with  banners,  and  to  be  prized 
even  above  true,  genuine  American  manhood,  so  long  will  our 
maidens  dear  be  bought  and  sold  in  a  strange  sad  way. 

It  was  in  this  colony  that  General  Grant  lived  for  a  month 
or  so  until  the  winter  days  came,  and  early  in  December  he 
left  for  the  South  of  France.  The  American  Government  had 
placed  at  his  disposal  the  man-of-war  "  Vandalia,"  which  was 
cruising  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  she  had  arrived  at  Ville- 
franche  to  await  the  General.  On  the  13th  of  December,  1877, 
at  five  in  the  afternoon,  General  Grant,  his  wife,  his  son 
Jesse  R.  Grant,  and  the  writer  of  this  narrative  embarked  on 
the  "  Vandalia,"  amid  cheers  from  the  other  American  ships  in 
the  harbor,  and  kind  wishes  from  the  many  friends  who  came 
to  see  us  off.  We  at  once  steamed  out  to  sea  toward  Italy, 
Egypt,  and  the  Holy  Land. 


IIISIIE'llH'iliSL! :  :,,,:.. U...1U 


VESUVIUS   AND   THE    BAY    OF   NAPLES. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE    MEDITERRANEAN VESUVIUS POMPEII. 


1|!|HE  "Vandalia"  cast  anchor  in  the  beautiful  Bay  of 
raSsr  Naples  December  1 7th,  about  ten  in  the  morning. 
We  came  hoping  to  find  sunshine,  but  the  Consul, 
B.  Odell  Duncan,  Esq.,  who  comes  on  board  to  wel- 
come the  General,  tells  us  there  has  been  no  such  weather 
known  for  many  seasons.  It  would  be  even  cold  in  our  incle- 
ment New  York.  I  rejoice  in  the  possession  of  a  capacious 
ulster,  which  I  brought  into  the  Mediterranean  against  many 
protests,  but  which  has  been  a  useful  companion.  Poor  Naples 
looks  especially  cold.  These  poor  Neapolitans  need  sunshine, 
and  they  are  almost  too  cold  to  beg.  So  much  has  been  writ- 
ten about  Naples  that  I  may  be  spared  a  catalogue  of  its  attrac- 
tions. On  anchoring  in  the  harbor  the  General  and  his  wife 
landed,  and  made  a  tour  of  the  city.     There  was  the  summer 

165 


I  66  THE  MEDITERRANEAN—  VESUVIUS— POMPEII. 

palace,  in  which  royal  persons  live  for  a  few  weeks  every  year, 
and  whose  grounds  are  open  only  by  permission.  There  is  the 
castle  of  San  Martin,  an  old  monastery,  now  turned  into  a  mu- 
seum and  a  barracks.  We  spent  a  good  hour  in  looking  at  its 
curiosities,  which  did  not  impress  us  either  as  curious  or  star- 
tling. "This,"  said  the  guide,  "is  the  picture  of  Mr.  So-and-so, 
who  generously  gave  this  museum  to  Naples."  "Well,"  said 
the  General,  aside,  "  if  1  had  a  museum  like  this  I  would  give  it 
to  Naples  or  whoever  would  take  it."  There  was  a  beautiful 
chapel,  in  which  the  Lord  is  no  longer  worshiped,  but  which 
was  a  gem  of  elaborate  decoration.  There  was  a  burial  ground 
of  the  monks,  surrounded  by  marble  pillars,  upon  which  skulls 
were  engraved.  In  the  center  was  one  larger  skull,  grinning, 
and  over  the  temples  a  withering  laurel  wreath.  Around  this 
cemetery  were  the  cloisters  under  whose  arches  our  friends  the 
monks  used  to  walk  and  read  and  meditate,  with  such  sugges- 
tions as  the  skulls  would  inspire.  It  was  ghostly  enough,  and 
there  was  a  comfort  in  turning  from  it  to  the  balcony,  a  few  steps 
off,  which  overlooked  the  brow  of  a  hill,  showing  Naples  be- 
neath us  and  Vesuvius  beyond,  and  the  shining  sea.  We  stood 
on  the  balcony  and  looked  down  from  our  dizzy  height,  and 
thought  how  much  more  in  consonance  with  true  religion  it  was 
to  worship  God  as  we  saw  him  here  in  his  majesty  and  glory, 
and  not  over  stones  and  bones  and  sights  of  evil  omen. 

There,  far  above,  was  Vesuvius,  and  we  were  impatient  for 
the  ascent.  It  was  too  late  when  we  arrived  in  Naples,  but  the 
General,  with  military  promptness,  gave  orders  for  the  march 
next  morning.  We  stood  on  the  deck  and  studied  the  stern  old 
mountain,  and  picked  out  the  various  objects  with  a  telescope, 
and  did  an  immense  amount  of  reading  on  the  subject.  The 
volcano  was  in  a  lazy  mood,  and  not  alive  to  the  honor  of  a  visit 
from  the  Ex-President  of  the  United  States,  for  all  he  deigned 
to  give  us  was  a  lazy  puff  of  smoke,  not  a  spark,  or  a  flame,  or 
a  cinder.  I  suppose  the  old  monster  is  an  aristocrat,  and  a  con- 
servative, and  said,  "What  do  I  care  for  presidents  or  your  new 
republics!  I  have  scattered  my  ashes  over  a  Roman  republic. 
I  have  lighted  Caesar's   triumphs,  and   thrown   my  clouds   over 


ON  THE    V AND  ALIA. 


167 


the  path  of  Brutus  fresh  from  Caesar's  corpse.  Why  should  I 
set  my  forces  in  motion  to  please  a  party  of  Yankee  sight-seers, 
even  if  one  of  them  should  be  a  famous  general  and  ex-ruler  of 
a  republic?  I  have  looked  upon  Hannibal  and  Caesar,  Charle- 
magne and  Bonaparte.  I  have  seen  the  rise  and  fall  of  empires. 
I  have  admonished  generations  who  worshiped  Jupiter,  as  I 
have  admonished  generations  who  have  worshiped  the  Cross. 
I  am  the  home  of  the  gods ;   and  if  you  would  see  my  power, 


|J|:1VK     IO    VESl'VIUS 


look  at  my  base  and  ask  of  the  ashes  that  cumber  Herculaneum 
and  Pompeii."  So  the  stubborn  old  monster  never  gave  us  a 
flash  of  welcome,  only  a  smoky  puff  now  and  then  to  tell  us  that 
he  was  a  monster  all  the  time,  if  he  only  chose  to  manifest  his 
awful  will.  We  stood  upon  the  deck  in  speculation,  and  some 
of  us  hoped  that  there  would  be  an  eruption  or  something  worth 
describing.  The  General  was  bent  on  climbing  to  the  very 
summit  and  looking  into  the  crater,  and  with  that  purpose  we 
started  in  the  morning  of  Tuesday,  December  iSth. 

We  should  have  gone  earlier,  but  many  high  people  in  uni- 
forms, commanding  one  thing  or  another,  had  to  come  on  board 


I  68  THE  MEDITERRANEAN—  VESUVIUS— POMPEII. 

and  pay  their  respects.  It  was  ten  before  we  were  under  way, 
the  General  and  party  in  the  advance,  with  our  courier,  whom  we 
have  called  the  Marquis,  on  the  box,  and  Mrs.  Grant's  maid 
bringing  up  the  rear.  We  drove  all  the  way.  You  will  under- 
stand our  route  when  I  remind  you  that  the  Bay  of  Naples  is 
something  like  a  horseshoe.  On  one  side  of  the  shoe  is  the 
city,  on  the  other  is  Vesuvius.  Therefore  to  reach  the  mountain 
we  have  to  drive  around  the  upper  circle  of  the  shoe.  The 
shores  of  this  bay  are  so  populous  that  our  route  seemed  to  be 
one  continuous  town.  We  only  knew  that  we  were  passing  the 
city  limits  when  the  guard  stopped  our  carriage  to  ask  if  there 
was  anything  on  which  we  were  anxious  to  pay  duty.  As  there 
was  nothing  but  a  modest  luncheon,  we  kept  on,  rattling  through 
narrow,  stony  streets.  Beggars  kept  us  company,  although 
from  some  cause  or  another  there  were  not  as  many  as  we  sup- 
posed. Perhaps  it  was  the  new  government,  which  we  are  told 
is  dealing  severely  with  beggars ;  or  more  likely  it  was  the 
weather,  which  is  very  cold  and  seems  to  have  taken  all  ambition 
out  of  the  people.  Still  we  were  not  without  attentions,  and 
from  streets  and  by-roads  a  woman  or  a  man,  or  sometimes  a 
blind  man  led  by  a  boy,  would  start  up  and  follow  us  with 
appeals  for  money.  They  were  starving  or  their  children  were 
starving,  and  lest  we  might  not  understand  their  distress,  they 
would  pat  their  mouths  or  breasts  to  show  how  empty  they 
were.  For  starving  persons  they  showed  great  courage  and 
endurance  in  following  our  carriage.  The  General  had  an 
assortment  of  coins,  and,  although  warned  in  the  most  judicious 
manner  against  encouraging  pauperism,  he  did  encourage  it, 
and  with  so  much  success  that  before  he  was  halfway  up  the 
mountain  he  was  a  pauper  himself  to  the  extent  of  borrowing 
pennies  from  some  of  his  companions  to  keep  up  the  demands 
upon  his  generosity. 

What  we  observed  in  this  long  ride  around  the  horseshoe 
was  that  Naples  was  a  very  dirty,  a  very  happy,  and  a  very  pic- 
turesque town.  We  learned  that  the  supply  of  rags  was  inex- 
haustible. I  never  knew  what  could  be  done  with  rags  until  I 
saw   these   lazzaroni.     They  seem   to  have  grown   rags,    as  a 


SPECULA  TORS. 


169 


sheep  grows  his  fleece,  and  yet  there  was  no  misery  in  their 
faces.  Happy,  dirty,  idle,  light-eyed,  skipping,  sunny — you 
looked  in  vain  for  those  faces,  those  terrible  faces  of  misery  and 
woe,  which  one  sees  so  often  in  London.  I  take  it,  therefore, 
that  beo-o-ine  is  an  amusement,  an  industry,  and  not  a  necessity 
— that  the  Naples  beggar 
goes  out  to  his  work  like 
any  other  laborer.  He  is 
not  driven  to  it  by  the 
gaunt  wolves  hunger  and 
disease.  One  scamp — a 
gray-bearded  scamp,  too — 
who  followed  us,  was  a 
baker,  who  made  and  sold 
loaves.  He  was  standing 
at  his  counter  trading 
when  our  carriage  hove  in 
sisfht.  At  once  he  threw 
down  his  loaves  and  started 
after  us  in  full  chase,  moan- 
ing and  showing  his  tongaie 
and  beating  his  breast,  and 
telling  us  he  was  starving.  laz^r™,  o*  naples. 

Well,  when  he  received  his  coin  he  went  to  his  store,  and  I  pre- 
sume began  to  haggle  over  his  bread.  That  coin  was  clear  gain. 
He  was  not  a  beggar,  but  a  speculator.  He  went  into  the  street 
and  made  a  little  raise,  just  as  brokers  and  merchants  at  home 
go  into  the  "street"  and  try  an  adventure  in  stocks.  The  Neapoli- 
tan speculator  was  a  wiser  man  than  his  New  York  brother.  He 
ran  no  risk.  Even  if  he  did  not  gain  his  coin  the  run  did  him  good, 
and  his  zeal  gave  him  the  reputation  of  an  active  business  man. 
In  the  meantime  our  horses  begin  to  moderate  their  pace 
and  the  streets  to  show  an  angle,  and  horsemen  surround  our 
carriage  and  tell  us  in  a  variety  of  tongues  that  they  are  guides, 
and,  if  we  require  it,  will  go  to  the  summit.  Women  come  to 
cabin  doors,  and  hold  up  bottles  of  white  wine — the  wine  called 
Lachrymae  Christi,  by  some  horrible  irreverence — and  ask  us  to 


I70 


THE  MEDITERRANEAN—  VESUVIUS— POMPEII. 


stop  and  drink.  And  already  the  houses  begin  to  thin,  and  we 
have  fields  around  us  and  glimpses  of  the  sea ;  and  although  the 
lazy  volcano,  with  its  puffs  of  smoke,  looks  as  far  distant  as 
when  we  were  on  the  deck  of  the  "  Vandalia  "  miles  away,  we 
know  that  the  ascent  has  begun,  and  that  we  are  really  climbing 
the  sides  of  Vesuvius. 

While  we  are  making  this  slow  ascent  let   me  recall  some 
facts  about  Vesuvius,  which  are  the  results  of  recent  readme — 


reading  made  with  a  view  to  this  journey.  In  the  times  of 
fable  these  lava  hills  were  said  to  have  been  the  scene  of  a  bat- 
tle between  the  giants  and  the  gods,  in  which  Hercules  took 
part.  Here  was  the  lake  Avernus,  whose  exhalations  were  so 
fatal  that  the  birds  would  not  fly  over  its  surface.  Here,  also, 
was  the  prison  house  of  Typhon,  although  some  critics  assign 
him  to  Etna.  But  Etna,  Vesuvius,  and  Stromboli  are  a  trinity 
of  volcanoes,  evidently  outlets  to  the  one  sea  of  fire,  and  any 
one  would  do  for  the  prison  house  of  a  god.  It  was  here  that 
Ulysses  came,  as  you  will   find   in   the  eleventh   book   of  the 


THE  ASCENT  OF   VESUVIUS.  l7r 

Odyssey.      Three   centuries    before   the   Christian    era   a   great 
battle  was  fought  at  Vesuvius   between   the   Romans  and   the 
Latins,  the  battle  in  which   Decius  lost  his  life.      It  was  on  Ve- 
suvius that  Spartacus  encamped  with  his  army  of  gladiators  and 
bondsmen,  in  his  magnificent  but  unavailing  blow  for  freedom. 
Just  now  there  are  two  cones  or  craters — one  passive,  the  other 
active.      We  read  in  Dion  Cassius  of  an  eruption  which  does  not 
speak  of  the  present  crater.     The  great  eruptions  are  placed  in 
the  years   79,  203,  472,    512,  6S5,   and   993.      The   eruption   in 
472  seems  to  have  been  the  severest  known  since  the  shower  of 
ashes  that  destroyed  Pompeii.      In  the  early  eruptions  there  was 
nothing  but  ashes  and  stones.      The  first  mention  of  lava  was  in 
572.     Sometimes  the  volcano  has  done  nothing  but  smoke  for  a 
century  or  two.     About  three  centuries  ago  a  new  peak,  440 
feet  in  height,  was  formed  in   twenty-four  hours,  and  there  it  is 
now  before  us  as  Monte  Nuovo.     There  was  no  eruption,  how- 
ever, and  the  hill   is  as  placid  as  one  of  your  Orange  hills   in 
New  Jersey.      In   the   last  century   there   was   a   good   deal   of 
movement,  as  we  have,  from  the  pen   of  Sir  William  Hamilton, 
the  British   Minister  at  Naples,  accounts  of  eruptions  in    1776, 
1777,  and  1779.      There  are  also  pictures  in  the  Museum  of  two 
eruptions   in   the    later  part   of  the  century,   which   must   have 
been  terrible  enough  to  suggest  the  last  day  if  the  artist  painted 
truly.      In  one  of  these  eruptions  the  liquid  lava,   mixed  with 
stones  and  scoria;,  rose  10,000  feet.      At  times  Sir  William  saw 
a  fountain  of  liquid  transparent  fire,  casting  so  bright  a  light 
that  the  smallest  objects  could  be  clearly  distinguished  within 
six  miles  of  the  mountain.     There  was  another  eruption  in  1  793, 
which  Dr.  Clarke  described — volleys  of  immense  stones.      The 
doctor  went  as  near  the  crater  as  possible,  and  was  nearly  suf- 
focated by  the   fumes  of  sulphur.      The  lava  poured  down  the 
sides  in  a  slow,  glowing,  densely  flowing  stream.      Thousands 
of  stones  were  in  the  air.      The  clouds  over  the  crater  were  as 
white   as  the   purest   snow.      In   a  week  the  lava  stopped,  and 
columns  of  light  red  flame,  beautiful  to  the  view,  illuminated  the 
top.      Millions  of  red-hot  stones  were  thrown   into  the  air,  and 
after  this  came  explosions  and  earthquakes,  shocks  louder  than 


T-~  I  HE  MEDITERRANEAN— VESUVIUS—POMPEII. 

cannon,  terrible  thunder,  with  a  "noise  like  the  trampling  of 
horses'  feet."  The  next  eruption  was  in  1822,  when  the  crater 
fell,  reducing"  the  mountain's  height  about  eight  hundred  feet. 
Since  1822  there  have  been  several  eruptions,  the  most  impor- 
tant happening  in  1S61.  Vesuvius  is  now  a  double  mountain 
upon  an  extended  base  from  thirty  to  forty  miles  in  circumfe- 
rence, not  more  than  one  third  the  base  of  Etna.  Its  height 
varies.  In  1868  it  was  4,255  feet;  but  since  1872  it  has  slightly 
diminished.  Stromboli  is  3,022  feet,  but,  although  in  constant 
motion,  the  stones  nearly  all  fall  back  into  the  crater.  Etna  is 
10,870  feet  in  height,  but  slopes  so  gradually  and  has  so  broad  a 
base  that  it  looks  more  like  a  tableland  than  a  mountain.  I  did 
not  see  Stromboli,  for  although  we  sailed  near  it  the  mist  and 
rain  hid  it  from  view.  I  have  seen  Etna,  however,  and  think  it 
far  less  imposing  and  picturesque  than  Vesuvius. 

In  the  meantime  we  are  going  up  steadily.  The  horses  go 
slower  and  slower.  Some  of  us  get  out  and  help  them  by  walk- 
ing part  of  the  way  and  taking  short  cuts.  The  few  houses 
that  we  see  on  the  roadside  have  evidently  been  built  with  a 
view  to  eruptions,  for  the  roofs  are  made  of  heavy  stone  and 
cement.  General  Grant  notes  that  where  the  lava  and  stones 
have  been  allowed  to  rest  and  to  mingle  with  the  soil  good 
crops  spring  up,  and  here  and  there  we  note  a  flourishing  bit  of 
vineyard.  Soon,  however,  vineyards  disappear,  and  after  the 
vineyards  the  houses,  except  an  occasional  house  of  shelter,  into 
which  we  are  all  invited  to  enter  and  drink  of  the  Tears  of  Christ. 
Our  convoy  of  horsemen,  who  have  been  following  us  for  a  mile 
or  two,  begin  to  drop  off.  The  Marquis  has  been  preaching  to 
them  from  the  box  in  various  languages  upon  their  folly  in  wasting 
time,  and  they  heed  his  warnings.  There  are  no  beggars.  It  is 
remarked  that  beggars  always  prefer  a  dead  level.  One  bright- 
eyed  boy  keeps  at  our  side,  a  lad  with  about  as  dirty  a  suit  of 
clothes  and  as  pretty  a  pair  of  eyes  as  you  could  see  even  in 
squalid,  smiling  Naples.  Well,  there  is  something  in  the  eyes, 
or  it  may  be  in  the  boyishness  of  their  possessor,  which  quite 
wins  one  of  the  party,  for  when  the  Marquis  insists  that  he 
shall  join  his  fellow  mendicants  in  the  valley  below,  a  gracious 


THE  LAVA   PATH. 


1/3 


protection  is  thrown  over  him,  and  he  follows  us  up  the  road. 
I  think  the  patronage  must  have  pleased  him,  for  he  gathered  a 
handful  of  wild  flowers  and  presented  them,  and  refused  a  coin 
which  was  offered  in  return  ;  but  the  refusal  of  this  coin  did  not 
prevent  his  acceptance  of  two  or  three  others,  and  a  good  dinner 
included,  an  hour  or  two 
later  in  the  day. 

Still  we  climb  the  hill, 
going  steadily  up.  Those 
of  us  who  thought  we  could 
make  the  way  on  foot  re- 
pent, for  the  way  is  steep 
and  the  road  is  hard.  All 
around  us  is  an  ocean  of 
chaos  and  death.  There 
in  all  forms  and  shapes 
lie  the  lava  streams  that 
did  their  work  in  other 
days,  black  and  cold  and 
forbidding.  You  can 
trace  the  path  of  each 
eruption  as  distinctly  as 
the  windino-sof  the  stream 
from  the  mountain  top. 
We  are  now  high  up  on 
the  mountain,  and  beneath 
us  is  the  valley  and  the  Bay  of  Naples,  with  Ischia  and  Capri, 
and  on  the  other  horizon  a  range  of  mountains  tinged  and 
tipped  with  snow.  In  one  direction  we  see  the  eruption  of 
1872  ;  the  black  lava  stream  bordered  with  green.  What 
forms  and  shapes !  what  fantastic,  horrible  shapes  the  fire 
assumed  in  the  hours  of  its  triumph  !  I  can  well  see  how 
Martial  and  Virgil  and  the  early  poets  saw  in  these  phenomena 
the  strife  and  aneer  of  the  eods.  Virgil  describes  Enceladus 
transfixed  by  Jove  and  the  mountain  thrown  upon  him,  which 
shakes  and  trembles  whenever  he  turns  his  weary  sides. 
This    is    the  scene,    the    very    scene    of  his    immortal    agony. 


NEAPOLITAN   BOY. 


i/4 


THE  MEDITERRANEAN—  VESUVIUS— POMPEII. 


There  are  no  two  forms  alike  ;  all  is  black,  cold,  and  pitiless. 
If  we  could  only  see  one  living  thing-  in  this  mass  of  destruc- 
tion ;  but  all  is  death,  all  desolation.  Here  and  there,  where 
the  rains  have  washed  the  clay,  and  the  birds,  perhaps,  may 
have  carried  seed,  the  grass  begins  to  grow ;  but  the  whole 
scene  is  desolation.  I  thought  of  the  earlier  a^es,  when  the  earth 
was  black  and  void,  and  fancied  that  it  was  just  such  an  earth 
as  this  when   Divinity  looked  upon  it  and  said,  "  Let  there  be 


light."  I  thought  of  the  end  of  all  things,  of  our  earth,  our  fair, 
sweet  and  blooming  earth,  again  a  mass  of  lava,  rock  and  ashes, 
all  life  gone  out  of  it,  rolling  through  space. 

The  presence  of  a  phenomenon  like  this,  and  right  above  us 
the  ever-seethine  crater,  is  in  itself  a  solemn  and  beautiful  si^ht. 
We  all  felt  repaid  with  our  journey  ;  for  by  this  time  we  had 
come  to  the  journey's  end,  and  our  musings  upon  eternity  and 
chaos  did  not  forbid  thoughts  of  luncheon.  For  the  wind  was 
cold  and  we  were  hungry.  So  when  our  illustrious  captain  in- 
timated that  we  might  seek   a  place  of  refuge  and  entertain- 


THE  HERMITAGE.  j-. 

ment,  a  light  gleamed  in  the  eyes  of  the  Marquis,  and  he  reined 
us  up  at  a  hostelry  called  the  Hermitage.  This  is  the  last  rest- 
ing-place before  we  reach  the  ascent  of  the  crater.  Here  the 
roads  stop,  and  the  remainder  of  the  journey  must  be  made  on 
foot.  Just  beyond  the  Hermitage  is  a  Government  institution 
known  as  the  Observatory,  a  point  where  information  for 
weather  reports  is  gained.  We  thought  when  we  came  into 
these  upper  regions  that  we  were  in  an  atmosphere  too  pure  for 
the  beggars.  We  were  congratulating  ourselves  upon  this  cir- 
cumstance coming  up  the  mountain  side,  but  on  descending  we 
had  a  beggar  or  two  to  await  us.  I  suppose  they  belonged  to 
the  hostelry,  and  were  simply  speculating  upon  us  like  our  friend 
the  baker,  whom  we  had  left  haergflingf  over  his  loaves  far  down 
in  Naples.  Some  of  us,  the  General  certainly,  had  come  this 
distance  meaning  to  climb  the  crater.  But  it  was  very  cold, 
and  we  had  delayed  our  departure  from  the  ship,  so  that  the 
day  was  well  on.  So,  instead  of  climbing  the  rocks  and  looking 
into  a  sulphurous  crater,  we  organized  a  kind  of  picnic  in  the 
Hermitage.  The  house  seemed  to  have  been  an  inquisition  or 
a  dungeon — the  rooms  were  so  large,  the  walls  were  so  thick, 
there  were  such  mysterious,  narrow  passages  and  chambers. 
But  people  who  build  houses  under  the  rim  of  Vesuvius  must 
build  for  fire  and  flame,  and  showers  of  ashes  and  stones,  and 
the  Hermitage  could  stand  a  severe  eruption  before  it  became 
untenable.  A  slight  crackling  fire  of  twigs  was  made  on  the 
hearth,  and  a  brazier  of  burning  coals  was  brought  into  the 
room.  We  were  some  time  in  comprehending  the  brazier,  but 
when  its  uses  became  apparent,  it  was  comforting  enough. 
There,  in  quite  a  primitive  fashion,  we  had  our  luncheon,  help- 
ing ourselves  and  each  other  in  good  homely  American  fashion, 
for  we  were  as  far  from  the  amenities  of  civilization  as  though 
we  were  in  Montana. 

After  luncheon  we  walked  about,  looking  at  the  crater,  where 
fumes  were  quite  apparent — at  the  world  of  desolation  around 
us,  some  of  it  centuries  old,  but  as  fresh  and  terrible  as  when  it 
burst  from  the  world  of  fire  beneath  us.  But  there  was  still 
another  picture — one  of  sublime  and  marvelous  beauty.     There 


176 


THE  MED1TERRAAEAX—  VESUVIUS— POMPEII. 


beneath  us,  in  the  clear,  sunny  air — there  was  Naples,  queen 
among  cities,  and  her  villages  clustering  about  her.  Beautiful, 
wondrously  beautiful,  that  panorama  of  hill  and  field  and  sea, 
that  rolled  before  us  thousands  of  feet  below  !  We  could  count 
twenty  villages  in  the  plain,  their  white  roofs  massed  together 
and  spangling  the  green  plain  like  gems.  There  were  Capri 
and  Ischia — their  rugged  outlines  softened  by  the  purple-golden 
glow  of  the  passing  day — lying  at  the  mouth  of  the  bay  as  if 
to  guard  this  rich  valley.  There  was  Naples,  her  rags  and  dirt 
quite  veiled  and  only  her  beauty  to  be  seen.  There  was  Mi- 
senum,  where  Pliny  saw  the  destruction  of  Pompeii.  There 
was  Nisita,  where  Brutus  took  refuge  when  he  fled  from  the 
murder  of  Caesar.  There  was  Sorrento,  where  Tasso  lived. 
Every  village  has  its  history  and  associations,  for  these  plains 
and  islands  and  promontories  have  been  for  ages  the  seats  of  a 
brilliant  and  glorious  civilization — a  civilization  which  even  now 
only  shows  the  beauty  of  decay.  The  splendor  of  a  Roman 
imperial  civilization  has  gone  from  Italy.  Ages  of  darkness 
and  superstition  and  despotism  have  rested  upon  her  like  the 
ashes  which  cover  Pompeii.  Let  us  hope  that  a  new  era  is 
coming,  which,  based  upon  freedom  and  patriotism,  will  far  excel 
even  that  of  the  Caesars.  These  were  our  thoughts  as  we  stood 
in  the  cold  winds  studying  the  magnificent  scene.  And  thinking 
of  the  living,  we  thought  of  the  dead — of  the  cities  of  the  plains 
which  perished  one  thousand  seven  hundred  years  ago.  The 
romance  that  surrounds  Naples  only  deepens  the  tragedy  of 
Pompeii  and  Herculaneum,  and  we  found  our  thoughts  ever 
turning  from  the  glory  and  majesty  of  all  we  saw  to  those  buried 
cities  of  the  plains,  as  we  were  hurried  home  again — home  to 
our  graceful  vessel  whose  lights  awaited  us  in  the  harbor. 

On  the  19th  of  December  the  General  and  his  party  visited 
Pompeii.  We  arrived  at  Pompeii  early  in  the  morning  con- 
sidering that  we  had  a  lonor  ride.  But  the  morning  was  cold 
enough  to  be  grateful  to  our  northern  habits,  and  there  was 
sunshine.  Our  coming  had  been  expected,  and  we  were  wel- 
comed by  a  handsome  young  guide,  who  talked  a  form  of  Eng- 
lish in  a  rather  high  key,  as  though  we  were  all  a  little  hard  of 


THE   CITY   OF  DEATH. 


177 


hearing".  This  guide  informed  us  that  he  had  waited  on  Gene- 
ral Sheridan  when  he  visited  Pompeii.  He  was  a  soldier,  and 
we  learned  that  the  guides  are  all  soldiers,  who  receive  duty 
here  as  a  reward  for  meritorious  service.  There  was  some 
comfort  in  seeing  Pompeii  accompanied  by  a  soldier,  and  a 
b  r  a  v  e  one. 
This  especial 
guide  was  intel- 
ligent,  bright, 
and  well  up  in 
all  concerning 
Pompeii.  We 
entered  the  town 
at  once  through 
a  gate  leading 
through  an  em- 
bankment. Al- 
though Pompeii, 
so  far  as  exca- 
vated, is  as  open 
to  the  air  as  New 
York,  it  is  sur- 
rounded by  an 
earthen  mound 
resembling  some 
of  our  railway 
embankments  in 
America.  Look- 
ing at  it  from 
the  outside  you 

might  imagine  it  an  embankment,  and  expect  to  see  a  train 
of  cars  whirling  along  the  surface.  It  is  only  when  you  pass 
up  a  stone-paved  slope  a  few  paces  that  the  truth  comes  upon 
you,  and  you  see  that  you  are  in  the  City  of  Death.  You 
see  before  you  a  long,  narrow  street  running  into  other  narrow 
streets.  You  see  quaint,  curious  houses  in  ruins.  You  see 
fragments,  statues,  mounds,  walls.     You  see   curiously  painted 


STREET    IN    NAPLES    (PORTA    CAl'UANA). 


1yg  THE  MEDITERRANEAN— VESUVIUS— POMPEII. 

walls.  You  see  where  men  and  women  lived  and  how  they 
lived — all  silent  and  all  dead — and  there  comes  over  you  that 
appalling  story  which  has  fascinated  so  many  generations 
of  men — the  story  of  the  destruction  of  Pompeii  and  Hercula- 
neum. 

You  will  say,  "Yes,  every  schoolboy  knows  that  story;" 
and  I  suppose  it  is  known  in  schoolboy  fashion.  It  will  complete 
my  chronicle  of  General  Grant's  visit  if  you  will  allow  me  to  tell 
it  over  again.  In  the  grand  days  of  Rome,  Pompeii  was  a  walled 
city  numbering  about  twenty  thousand  inhabitants.  It  was 
built  on  the  sea-coast,  and  was  jarotected  from  the  sea  by  a  wall. 
I  should  say  in  extent  it  was  about  as  large  as  the  lower  section 
of  New  York,  drawing  a  line  across  the  island  from  river  to 
river  through  the  City  Hall.  It  was  an  irregular  five-sided 
town,  with  narrow  streets.  Its  inhabitants  were,  as  a  general 
thing,  in  good  standing,  because  they  came  here  to  spend  their 
summers.  I  suppose  they  had  about  the  same  standing  in 
Roman  society  as  the  inhabitants  of  Newport  have  in  American 
society.  Pompeii  was  an  American  Newport,  a  city  of  recrea- 
tion and  pleasure.  It  is  said  the  town  was  founded  by  Hercules, 
but  that  fact  you  must  verify  for  yourself.  It  was  the  summer 
capital  of  luxurious  Campania,  and  joined  Hannibal  in  his  war 
against  Rome.  Hannibal  proposed  a  kind  of  Southern  Confede- 
racy arrangement,  with  Capua  as  capital.  After  Hannibal  had 
been  defeated  Capua  was  destroyed  and  Pompeii  spared — 
spared  in  the  end  for  a  fate  more  terrible.  Cicero  lived  near 
Pompeii,  and  emperors  came  here  for  their  recreation.  In  the 
year  13  the  city  had  an  omen  of  its  fate  by  an  earthquake,  which 
damaged  the  town  seriously,  throwing  down  statues,  swallowing 
up  sheep — so  appalling  "that  many  people  lost  their  wits."  In 
64,  when  Nero  was  in  Naples  singing,  there  was  another  earth- 
quake, which  threw  down  the  building  in  which  his  majesty 
had  been  entertaining  his  friends.  This  was  the  second  warn- 
ing.  The  end  came  on  the  24th  of  August,  79,  and  we  know 
.ill  the  facts  from  the  letters  written  by  Pliny  the  Younger  to 
Tacitus — letters  which  had  a  mournful  interest  to  the  writer, 
because  they  told  him  that   Pliny  the   Elder  lost  his  life  in  the 


PLIXY'S  LETTERS.  ,  -„ 

general  desolation.  Pliny  tells  how  he  was  with  his  uncle,  who 
commanded  the  Roman  fleet  at  Misenum.  Misenum  is  just 
across  the  bay  from  Pompeii — twenty  miles,  perhaps,  as  the 
crow  flies.  On  the  24th  of  August.  Pliny  the  Elder  was  takino- 
the  benefit  of  the  sun — that  is  to  say,  he  had  anointed  his  per- 
son and  walked  naked,  as  was  the  daily  custom  of  all  prudent 
Romans.  He  had  taken  his  sun  bath  and  retired  to  his  library, 
when  he  noticed  something  odd  about  Vesuvius.  The  cloud 
assumed  the  form  of  a  gigantic  pine  tree  and  shot  into  the  air 
to  a  prodigious  height.  Pliny  ordered  his  galley  to  be  manned, 
and  sailed  across  the  bay  direct  for  Vesuvius,  over  the  bay 
where  you  may  now  see  fishing  boats  and  steamers. 

A  letter  from  some  friends  whose  villas  were  at  the  base  of 
the  mountain  warned  him  that  there  was  danger ;  but  like  a  Ro- 
man and  a  sailor  he  sailed  to  their  rescue.  As  he  drew  near  the 
mountain  the  air  was  filled  with  cinders.  Burning-  rocks  and 
pumice-stones  fell  upon  his  decks,  the  sea  retreated  from  the 
land,  and  rocks  of  great  size  rolled  down  the  mountain.  His 
pilot  begged  him  to  return  to  Misenum  and  not  brave  the  anger 
of  the  gods.  "Fortune,"  he  said,  "favors  the  brave — carry  me 
to  Pomponianus."  Pomponianus  was  what  we  now  call  Castel- 
lamare,  a  little  port  from  which  the  fish  come.  Here  the  erup- 
tion fell  upon  him.  The  houses  shook  from  side  to  side,  the 
day  was  darker  than  the  darkest  night.  The  people  were  in 
the  fields  with  pillows  on  their  heads,  carrying  torches.  The 
fumes  of  sulphur  prostrated  Pliny  and  he  fell  dead.  The  scene 
of  the  actual  destruction  can  be  told  in  no  better  words  than 
those  of  the  younger  Pliny,  who  watched  the  scene  from  Mise- 
num. Remember  it  was  twenty  miles  away,  and  you  can  fancy 
what  it  must  have  been  in  Pompeii.  "  I  turned  my  head,"  writes 
Pliny,  "and  observed  behind  us  a  thick  smoke,  which  came 
rolling  after  us  like  a  torrent.  I  proposed,  while  we  had  yet 
any  light,  to  turn  out  into  the  high  road,  lest  we  should  be 
pressed  to  death  in  the  dash  of  the  crowd  that  followed  us.  We 
had  scarcely  stepped  out  of  the  path  when  darkness  overspread 
us,  not  like  that  of  a  cloudy  night,  or  when  there  is  no  moon, 
but  of  a  room  when  it  is  shut  up  and  all  the  lights  are  extinct. 


i  So 


THE  MEDITERRANEAN—  VESUVIUS— POMPEII. 


Nothing  then  was  to  be  heard  but  the  shrieks  of  women,  the 
screams  of  children  and  the  cries  of  men  ;  some  calling  for  their 
children,  others  for  their  parents,  others  for  their  husbands,  and 
only  distinguishing  each  other  by  their  voices ;  one  lamenting 
his  own  fate,  another  that  of  his  family  ;  some  wishing  to  die 
from  the  very  fear  of  dying,  some  lifting  their  hands  to  the  gods  ; 

but  the  greater 
imagining  that 
the  last  and 
eternal  night 
had  come  which 
was  to  destroy 
the  world  and 
the  gods  to- 
gether. Among 
these  were  some 
who  augmented 
the  real  terrors 
by  imaginary 
ones,  and  made 
the  affrighted 
multitude  falsely 
believe  that  Mi- 
senum  was  ac- 
tually in  flames. 
At  length  a 
glimmering 
light  appeared 
which  we  im- 
agined to  be  ra- 
ther the  forerun- 
ner of  an  approaching  burst  of  flame,  as  in  truth  it  was,  than 
the  return  of  day.  However,  the  fire  fell  at  a  distance  from  us. 
Then  again  we  were  immersed  in  thick  darkness,  and  a  heavy 
shower  of  ashes  rained  upon  us,  which  we  were  obliged  every 
now  and  then  to  shake  off,  otherwise  we  should  have  been 
crushed  and  buried  in  the  heap.     At  last  this  dreadful  darkness 


DINNER    AT  THE    HERMITAGE. 


THE  MUSEUM.  jgj 

was  dissipated  by  degrees,  like  a  cloud  of  smoke,  the  real  day 
returned,  and  even  the  sun  appeared,  though  very  faintly  and 
as  when  an  eclipse  is  coming  on.  Every  object  that  presented 
itself  to  our  eyes,  which  were  extremely  weakened,  seemed 
changed,  being  covered  over  with  white  ashes  as  with  a  deep 
snow." 

This  was  in  the  latter  part  of  August,  79,  and  Pompeii  slept 
in  peace  for  more  than  sixteen  hundred  years.  Ashes  twenty 
feet  deep  covered  the  town,  and  it  is  believed  about  ten  thou- 
sand persons  perished.  In  1748  the  first  excavations  were 
made  by  the  Bourbon  Charles  III.  The  villa  of  Diomedes  was 
opened  in  1771.  It  was  in  this  villa  that  a  group  of  eighteen 
skeletons  was  found.  It  was  not  until  1S06,  when  the  French 
took  Naples,  that  the  work  was  pursued  with  any  intelligence. 
About  one  third  of  the  town  has  already  been  opened,  and  the 
excavation  goes  on  under  judicious  superintendence. 

Our  first  visit  was  to  the  museum,  a  carefully  arranged  col- 
lection. Here  you  may  see  windows  and  doors  as  they  came 
from  the  ruins.  There  are  also  casts  of  eight  human  bodies,  the 
faces  and  forms  expressing  the  agony  of  the  last  moment.  One 
is  that  of  a  finely  formed  woman,  her  brow  resting  upon  her 
arm,  lying  in  an  easy  attitude  of  repose.  Some  had  their 
clothing  on,  others  scarcely  a  vestige  of  clothing.  Some  were  in 
attitudes  of  despair  and  combat,  as  though  they  would  resent 
Death  when  he  came.  There  were  skeletons  of  animals  and 
skulls.  There  were  vases  as  they  came  from  the  opened  cham- 
bers, rainspouts  in  terra-cotta,  helmets,  bucklers,  and  swords 
that  belonged  to  the  gladiators.  There  was  bread  as  found  in 
the  oven,  and  a  dish  in  which  the  meat  was  roasting.  There 
was  a  pot  in  which  were  the  remnants  of  a  sucking  pig,  the  skele- 
ton of  the  pig  clearly  traceable.  There  were  barley  and  olives 
and  various  kinds  of  food.  Almonds,  pears  and  figs,  pouches  of 
coin,  sandals,  garments,  rings  and  trinkets,  amulets  that  were  to 
keep  off  the  evil  eye.  All  was  here  arranged  as  found  in  the 
ashes  of  the  buried  city.  And  all  was  so  real — so  horribly  real 
— I  cannot  express  the  impression  which  came  over  us  as  we 
passed  from  the  gate  into  the  very  streets  of  the  buried  town — 


:  g  2  THE  MEDITERRANEAN—  VES  UVIUS— POMPEII. 

the  very  streets  of  this  bright,  gay,  luxurious  town.  We  could 
not  realize  the  solemnity  of  Pompeii.  It  seemed  so  natural  that 
we  should  come  here — so  natural  that  we  should  be  at  home,  so 
natural  that  this  should  be  a  living  and  not  a  town  that  had 
been  buried  and  risen  again — that  our  visit  seems  a  day's  holi- 
day in  a  charming  country  town,  and  not  a  mournful  march 
through  a  town  of  ashes  and  death. 

Here,  for  instance,  is  the  home  of  our  friend,  M.  Arrius  Dio- 
medes.  Our  friend  is  a  patrician,  a  great  man  in  Rome,  who 
came  to  his  villa  by  the  sea  for  summer  air  and  repose  after  the 
cares  of  the  capital.  I  am  certain  that  he  would  receive  us  with 
true  Roman  courtesy  did  he  know  of  our  arriving.  But  he  has 
vanished  into  the  night,  and  all  we  have  is  the  gracious  word 
"Salve,"  in  mosaic,  on  the  door-sill.  Here  it  is  in  indelible 
mosaic — curiously  worked,  is  it  not?  You  push  the  ashes  away 
with  your  foot,  for  somehow  our  patrician  friend  is  not  as  well 
served  with  all  of  his  slaves.  You  push  the  ashes  aside  and 
read  the  warm  word  of  welcome,  its  white  stones  smiling  as 
though  they  would  anticipate  the  greeting  of  the  master.  So, 
encouraged,  we  trace  our  way  into  this  suburban  villa.  The 
street  through  which  we  have  just  passed  is  the  Street  of  the 
Tombs,  but  let  us  draw  no  inhospitable  omen  from  that,  for  our 
Roman  friends  are  stoics  and  find  no  terror  in  death.  There  is 
much  dust  and  ashes,  and  roofs  that  might  be  mended,  and  the 
villa  of  M.  Arrius  Diomedes  has  changed  somewhat  since  his 
retreating  footsteps  pressed  for  the  last  time  the  welcoming 
word  on  his  door-sill.  We  can  examine  this  house  at  our  lei- 
sure, if  we  are  curious  to  see  how  our  noble  friends  lived  in  the 
golden  days  when  Caesars  reigned.  You  note  that  there  is  a 
slight  ascent  to  the  house,  the  doorway  being  as  much  as  six  or 
seven  feet  above  the  roadway.  Well,  this  is  as  should  become 
a  patrician,  and  a  man  like  Diomedes  does  not  choose  to  live 
under  the  staring  gaze  of  gladiators  and  tragic  poets,  and  the 
riffraff  of  people  who  flock  about  Pompeii.  You  go  up  to  the 
porch  by  an  inclined  plane,  and  pass  through  the  peristyle  into 
an  open  court-yard,  where  the  rain  was  gathered.  On  one  side 
the  descending  staircases  point  the  way  to  the  rooms  devoted 


rOMPEII. 


183 


to  the  humbler  offices  of  this  princely  house.  Around  us  are 
rooms,  say  twenty  in  all,  which  open  on  the  court-yard.  In  one 
corner  are  the  rooms  for  bathing,  for  our  host  belongs  to  a  race 
who  do  honor  to  the  gods  by  honoring  the  body  which  the  gods 


gave  them. 


Here  are  cooling  chambers,  warm  chambers,  an  anointing- 
room,  a  furnace.  If  you  do  not  care  to  go  through  the  process 
of  a  bath,  you  may  anoint  yourself  and  walk  in  the  sun.  Here 
is  a  chamber  fitted  for  the  purpose — a  gallery  lighted  by  win- 
dows looking  out  upon  the  trellises,  where  I  am  sure  the  roses 
would  be  creeping  in  luxuriant  bloom  were  our  friend  only  here 
to  look  after  his  home.  The  roses  have  faded,  but  if  you  pass 
into  a  small  room  to  the  right 
you  will  see  why  this  gallery 
was  built.  Out  of  that  win- 
dow— which  unfortunately  is 
wanting  in  glass — out  of  that 
window,  through  which  you 
may  gaze  while  your  slave 
anoints  your  person  and  per- 
fumes your  tresses,  you  may 
see  beyond  the  gardens  the 
whole  sweeping  Bay  of 
Naples  as  far  as  Sorrento. 
After  you  have  enjoyed  your 
bath,  and  care  to  discipline 
your  body  further,  here  is 
another  room,  upon  which 
the  sun  beats  with  undis- 
puted power,  a  room  given  to 
in-door    games    and    amuse- 


NEAPOL1TAN    FISHER    GIRL. 


ments.  Here  is  the  eating 
room,  commanding  a  view  of  a  garden,  and  here  is  a  room  which 
was  once  the  library — a  library  of  papyrus  volumes — where  we 
can  fancy  our  friend  studying  the  sciences  with  Pliny,  or  verify- 
ing a  quotation  with  Cicero.  The  papyrus  rolls  are  not  here,  to 
be  sure,  although  some  of  them  are  up  in  the  Naples  Museum, 


I  g^  THE  MEDITERRANEAN—  VESUVIUS— POMPEII. 

and  since  we  have  this  modern  fashion  of  printing  we  shall  not 
envy  M.  Diomedes  his  few  cherished  scrolls.  And  if  you  ask  for 
the  ladies,  you  are  pointed  to  the  staircase  leading  to  the  gym- 
nasium, or  the  door  leading  to  the  venerium,  where  I  am  afraid 
we  should  not  under  ordinary  circumstances  be  welcome.  You 
see  our  friend  has  exclusive  notions  about  the  ladies,  and  prefers 
to  dispense  his  own  hospitalities.  Beyond  these  rooms  is  a 
garden,  a  garden  inclosed  by  walls,  and  over  the  walls  should 
be  a  trellis  of  flowers.  Under  the  walls  is  a  portico,  where  M. 
Diomedes  and  his  friends  can  walk  when  it  rains.  Here  should 
be  a  fountain,  rather  here  is  the  fountain,  but  the  waters  some- 
how have  ceased  to  flow.  But  you  may  put  your  fingers  into 
the  very  spout  and  admire  the  grain  of  the  marble,  for  the  work 
came  from  the  hands  of  cunning  workmen.  If  you  open  this 
door — alas  !  I  am  afraid  it  is  open,  with  no  prospect  of  its  being 
closed — if  you  open  this  gate  you  will  find  that  it  is  the  rear  of 
the  villa  and  looks  out  upon  the  vineyards,  the  gardens  and  the 
sea.  This  garden  should  be  full  of  mulberries  and  figs,  and  if 
the  gardening  slaves  were  diligent,  we  should  now  be  walking, 
not  in  ashes,  but  under  a  shady  wall  of  vines,  and  breathing  the 
perfume  cf  the  violet  and  the  rose. 

You  will  observe,  if  time  is  not  pressing,  that  our  friend  was 
fond  of  the  arts,  and  that  the  walls  of  these  rooms  are  decorated 
with  care.  This  is  none  of  your  whitewashing — none  of  your 
French  paper  and  modern  English  decorations,  all  running  to 
pale  green  and  gray.  Our  noble  host  lived  in  the  land  of 
sunshine,  and  drew  his  colors  from  the  rainbow.  To  be  sure, 
the  colors  do  look  fresh — so  fresh  as  to  make  you  wonder  if 
they  are  already  dry.  But  time  will  give  them  the  Titian  and 
Rembrandt  tint;  time  will  mellow  them,  if  we  only  wait  long 
enouoh.  When  a  Roman  nobleman  builds  a  home  like  this,  a 
home  possessing  all  that  taste,  and  luxury,  and  wealth  can  wish 
— if,  I  say,  a  Roman  patrician  like  Marcus  Arrius  Diomedes 
plants  all  these  gardens  and  constructs  so  luxurious  a  home, 
you  must  not  be  impatient  at  the  glowing  colors.  Perhaps,  if 
you  are  an  artist,  you  will  note  the  poverty  of  his  invention  in 
the  matter  of  colors — red,  blue,  green,  yellow,  and  black.     These 


A   NOBLEMAN'S  HOME. 


185 


are  all  that  seem  to  have  occurred  to  his  craftsmen.  And  you 
will  object  to  many  of  his  pagan  themes.  But  do  not  forget,  I 
pray  you,  that  our  friend  is  a  pagan,  and  that  you  will  find  in 
this  home,  and  the  homes  of  his  neighbors  and  kinsmen,  many 
things  to  offend  a  taste  educated  up  to  the  moral  standard  of 
Boston  and  New  York.  But,  happily,  we  are  neither  mission- 
aries nor  critics,  but  friends — friends  from  far  America — who 
have  heard  much  of  Pompeii,  and  have  come  to  call   upon   this 


opulent  citizen.  See  with  what  minute  care  this  house  is  deco- 
rated. The  floors  are  of  mosaic  —  white  stones  on  a  black 
ground,  or  black  stones  on  a  white  ground,  describing  plain 
geometrical  lines  and  curves.  If  you  study  closely  this  mosaic 
work  you  will  find  it  of  marble  (black  and  white)  and  red  tiles, 
buried  in  mortar.  If  you  pass  on  you  will  see  even  finer  work. 
Here,  for  instance,  is  a  group  of  dancers  and  musicians, 
masked  figures,  playing  upon  the  tambourine,  the  cymbals,  and 
the  pipe.  What  skill,  what  patience  in  the  fashioning,  in  the 
folding  drapery,  the  movement  of  the  limbs,  harmony  of  motion  ! 


!  g  6  THE  MEDITERRANEAN—  VES  U  VI US— POMPEII. 

You  note  that  the  walls  are  all  painted  ;  and  if  you  do  not  like 
the  glaring  colors  in  some  rooms,  pause  for  a  moment  before 
this  figure,  a  female  form  floating  into  space.  The  lips  are 
open  in  the  ecstasy  of  motion,  the  limbs  are  poised  in  the  air, 
and  the  light  drapery,  through  which  the  sun  shines,  seems  to 
toy  with  the  breeze  ;  the  bosom  almost  heaves  with  life  and 
youth.  It  means  nothing,  you  say.  You  miss  the  sweetness 
of  the  later  schools ;  you  see  nothing  of  the  divine,  seraphic 
beauty  which  lives  in  the  Madonnas  of  Raphael  ;  you  miss 
the  high  teachings  of  our  modern  art — the  mother's  love 
in  the  Virgin's  face,  the  love  that  embraceth  all  things  in  the 
face  of  the  suffering  Redeemer.  You  miss  this,  and  long  for 
that  magic  pencil  which  told,  as  in  a  poem  or  an  opera,  of  the 
splendors  of  ancient  and  modern  Rome.  You  say  that  our 
friend  knew  only  of  fauns  and  satyrs  and  beastly  representations 
of  lecherous  old  Silenus  and  that  drunken  brute  Bacchus ;  that 
even  his  Venus  was  a  degradation  rather  than  an  idealization  of 
woman  ;  that  his  art  was  physical,  and  became  an  apotheosis 
of  strength  and  vice  and  passion.  You  ask  what  possible  use, 
either  as  entertainment  or  study,  can  there  be  in  a  bearded 
Bacchus,  or  in  many  other  things  that  I  am  not  permitted  to  de- 
scribe ?  This  art  is  not  our  art,  and  as  we  study  it  and  admire 
much  of  its  taste  and  skill  and  truth  to  nature,  we  cannot  but 
feel,  and  with  grateful  hearts,  that  the  Pompeiian  age  is  dead, 
and  that  we  come  in  a  new  age  ;  that  the  gods  whom  our  friend 
worshiped  have  faded  into  night,  and  that  a  nobler,  higher 
faith  has  taken  their  place,  giving  purity  to  our  art.  This  we 
owe  to  the  work  done  by  Jesus  Christ.  And  if  you  marvel  that 
our  friend  Marcus  Arrius  Diomedes  did  not  feel  the  same  influ- 
ence, remember  that  our  friend  is  a  Roman,  a  patrician  and  a 
man  of  great  wealth  and  station,  and  not  a  man  to  shape  his 
tastes  after  the  canons  of  a  Jewish  carpenter,  crucified  just  sev- 
enty-nine years  ago,  and  of  Jewish  fishermen  who  followed  him, 
and  have  been  meetly  punished  for  their  follies  and  crimes. 

But  our  friend  Diomedes  does  not  come,  and  I  am  afraid 
there  is  no  use  in  waiting.  Pompeii  is  a  most  interesting  town,, 
and  there  are  a  thousand  other  things  to  be  seen — the  Forum, 


THE  AMPHITHEATER. 


I87 


for  instance,  the  amphitheater,  the  temples  of  Jupiter  and  Venus, 
the  Exchange,  the  tombs.  How  real  it  all  seems  !  Here  are 
the  narrow  streets,  with  stepping  stones  to  keep  us  out  of  the 
running  water  as  we  cross.  Here  is  the  wide  street,  the  Broad- 
way of  the  town,  and  you  can  see  the  chariot  ruts  worn  deep 


into  the  stone.  The  General  notes 
that  some  of  the  streets  are  out 
of  repair,  and  it  is  suggested  that 
Tweed  was  not  the  first  magistrate  who  failed  to  pave  the 
roads.  Here  are  the  shops  on  the  highway,  shops  in  which 
you  may  buy  and  sell  to  your  heart's  content,  if  we  can 
only  believe  the  signs  on  the  walls.  One  irritable  mer- 
chant (I  suppose  he  has  amassed  a  large  fortune  and  retired 
from  business)  informs  the  public  that  there  must  be  no 
lounging  about  his  shop,  and  that  if  people  do  not  mean 
business  they  had  better  go  elsewhere.  If  you  think  my 
translation  is  a  free  one,  I  will  give  you  the  exact  inscription : 
"  Otwsis  locus  hie  non  est,  disccde  monitor" — "  Loiterer,  pass  on; 


jSS  the  MEDITERRANEAN— VESUVIUS— POMPEII. 

this  is  no  place  for  idlers."  Passers-by  are  warned  against 
committing  trespass  by  two  large  serpents  painted  on  the  walls; 
and  if  we  are  disposed  to  seek  other  entertainment  in  Pompeii, 
not  having  found  M.  Diomedes  at  home,  here  is  a  tavern,  the 
Elephant  Snake  Inn  I  suppose  it  should  be  called,  having  as 
its  sign  an  elephant  in  the  folds  of  a  serpent.  The  sign  also  in- 
forms us  that  within  may  be  found  a  triclinium  or  dining  room, 
"  with  three  beds  and  other  conveniences."  Politics  seem  to  be 
running  high  in  this  luxurious  town.  Here  is  an  advertisement 
in  which  Philippus  beseeches  favor  and  patronage  that  he  may 
be  made  a  duumvir  of  justice.  Sometimes  these  inscriptions 
take  the  form  of  compliment  and  adulation.  The  candidate, 
instead  of  beseeching  suffrage  of  the  unterrified,  the  hisfh- 
minded  people,  seeks  the  aid  of  some  high-placed  citizen,  just 
as  a  century  or  two  ago  our  tragic  poets  and  comedians  used  to 
address  their  wishes  to  some  mighty  duke  or  most  ducal  lord  and 
king.  You  note  that  in  spite  of  the  paganism,  and  other  things 
in  which  we  have  improved,  there  was  a  great  deal  of  human 
nature — of  Massachusetts  and  Brooklyn  human  nature — in  these 
Pompeiians.  In  those  days  people  wrote  on  the  walls,  as  home 
idiots  do  now,  their  names  and  inscriptions,  verses  from  a  poem, 
jibes  from  a  comedy.  Here  is  an  advertisement  setting  forth 
that  Julia  Felix,  daughter  of  Spurius,  has  to  let  a  bath,  a  vene- 
rium, nine  hundred  shops  with  booths  and  garrets,  for  a  term 
of  five  years  from  the  6th  of  August.  Mme.  Julia  wishes  like- 
wise tenants  with  references,  as  she  has  no  desire  to  deal  with 
immoral  persons.  Another  scribe  named  Issus  seeks  the  patron- 
age of  the  sedile  as  one  "  most  deserving."  We  note  as  we 
go  on  that  this  was  a  city  of  fountains,  and  that  superstition  was 
rile,  there  being  on  nearly  every  house  some  engraved  charm 
to  protect  the  inhabitants  from  the  evil  eye.  I  wish  these 
charms  were  all  as  innocent  and  proper  in  their  character  as 
our  dear  old  homely  horseshoe,  which  has  protected  so  many 
generations  from  the  perils  of  witchcraft. 

The  sun  is  shining  as  we  pass  from  the  narrow  streets  and 
come  upon  the  Forum.  The  heart  leaps  as  we  look  upon  this 
scene   of  the   elegance   and   the    strife   and   the    patriotism    of 


THE  PANTHEON. 


I  89 


twenty  centuries  ago.  The  sun  shines  upon  many  a  broken 
column,  upon  entablatures  falling  into  decay,  upon  plinths  and 
molds  that  retain  only  a  faint  semblance  of  their  former  beauty. 
I  have  seen  a  picture  called  "  Pompeii  Restored,"  with  special 
reference  to  the  Forum.  I  see  an  oblong  space  like  that  in  the 
court-yard  of  the  Louvre.  This  space  is  surrounded  by  columns 
form i no-  an  arcade,  and  galleries  above  the  arcade.  On  one 
side  was  the  temple  of  Mercury,  on  the  other  the  Pantheon. 
This  space  is  five  hundred  and  twenty-four  feet  long  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide.  On  the  other  side  is  the  temple 
of  Jupiter  and  the  temple  of  Venus.  The  temple  of  Jupiter 
borders  on  a  road  spanned  by  triumphal  arches — one  to  the 
immortal  glory  of  Nero,  that  great  emperor  who  one  day- 
rode  in  triumph  down  the  very  road  over  which  we  are 
sauntering-  this  morning'  in  the  wake  of  a  nimble  and  loud- 
talking  guide.  This  temple  of  Jupiter  is  the  home  of  the 
presiding  deities  of  Pompeii,  if  any  oi  us  choose  to  go  in  and 
worship.  But  I  am  afraid  we  are  more  interested  in  the  prison 
where  the  skeletons  of  the  prisoners  were  found,  the  shackles 
still  confining  them.  Here  is  the  Pantheon,  or  what  we  are  at 
liberty  to  call  a  Pantheon  until  the  men  of  science  really  deter- 
mine whether  it  is  so  or  not,  or,  as  is  supposed,  a  temple  of  Vesta. 
I  am  afraid  it  makes  very  little  difference  now  what  it  is,  as  it  is 
incontinently  a  ruin.  Another  building  about  which  there  is 
doubt  is  called  the  Senaculum,  where  the  senators  met.  These 
various  temples  were  decorated  with  a  profusion  which  I  have 
not  space  to  catalogue.  Statues,  endless  statues,  and  busts, 
paintings,  sacred  utensils,  altars,  and  columns — what  a  world  of 
wealth  and  labor  was  expended  upon  the  worship  of  these  pagan 
gods  !  What  a  strange  religion  it  must  have  been  !  Here  are 
dancing  figures,  battles  with  crocodiles,  devotees  performing 
sacrifice  to  Priapus.  Here,  more  apt  than  the  others  to-day 
at  least,  is  Penelope  discovering  Ulysses.  In  the  room  of  one 
of  the  priests  of  the  temple  of  Venus  was  a  painting  of  Bacchus 
and  Silenus,  which  must  have  inspired  a  frail  kind  of  devotion. 
Around  the  Forum  are  pedestals  on  which  were  exalted  in  their 
day  the  statues  of  the  men  and  the  gods  Pompeii  delighted  to 


!  q0  THE  MEDITERRANEAN—  J  £S  i "  I  TVS— POMPEII. 

honor.  If  we  marvel  at  the  extreme  expense  lavished  on  the 
Forum,  especially  as  compared  with  the  other  parts  of  the  town,  we 
must  remember  that  in  these  ancient  days  the  Forum  was  where 
the  Roman  citizen  passed  most  of  his  time.  He  spent  his  days 
at  the  baths,  the  theater,  and  the  Forum,  and,  as  a  consequence, 
whenever  you  find  any  remains  of  the  old  Rome,  you  find  that 
the  bath,  the  theater,  and  the  Forum  were  the  centers  of  display. 

We  might  spend  mere  time  with  the  temples,  but  I  am 
afraid  the  religion  of  Pompeii  is  not  severe  enough  to  inspire 
our  awe.  There  is  a  temple  to  Fortune,  built  by  one  Marcus 
Tullius,  supposed  descendant  of  Cicero.  There  are  temples  to 
Isis  and  Esculapius — that  of  Isis  being  in  excellent  preservation. 
These  priests  were  severer  in  their  devotions  than  our  friends 
who  held  out  at  the  other  establishments.  They  were  celibates, 
who  lived  mainly  on  fish,  never  eating  onions  or  the  flesh  of  the 
sheep  or  hog.  I  suppose  they  were  faithful  in  some  respects, 
for  the  skeletons  of  two  were  found  in  this  very  temple,  one  at- 
tempting to  break  a  door  with  an  ax  and  another  at  dinner. 
As  one  of  the  rules  of  this  order  was  perpetual  devotion  before 
the  statue  of  the  deity,  it  is  supposed  they  were  at  their  prayers 
when  the  hour  came.  Let  us  honor  them  for  that,  and  trust 
that  even  fidelity  to  poor  foolish  Isis  will  not  be  forgotten  in  the 
day  when  all  remembered  deeds  are  to  have  their  last  account. 

But  almost  as  dear  to  Pompeii  as  her  baths  and  Forum  were 
the  theaters.  Here  is  a  building  which  is  known  as  the  school 
of  the  gladiators.  All  the  evidences  show  that  Pompeii  excelled 
in  gladiatorial  displays.  Why  not  ?  Her  people  were  rich  and 
refined,  and  in  no  way  could  a  community  show  its  wealth  so 
much  as  by  patronizing  the  gladiators.  The  school  shows  that 
there  were  accommodations  for  as  many  as  one  hundred  and 
thirty-two  in  that  building  alone.  Inscriptions  show  that  in 
some  of  the  public  displays  as  many  as  thirty  or  thirty-five  pairs 
of  gladiators  exhibited  at  one  time.  We  did  not  visit  the  large 
amphitheater,  the  small  theater  being  sufficient  for  our  purpose. 
The  ancient  theaters  were  always  open  to  the  sun,  this  being  a 
climate  blessed  with  a  sun.  They  were  planned  very  much  like 
our  own.     Where  plays  were  performed  there  was  a  stage,  an 


STREET  IN  POMPEII. 


IQI 


orchestra,  rows  of  shelving  seats  made  of  cement  or  stone,  aisles 
and  corridors  and  lobbies,  just  as  you  find  them  in  Wallack's  or 
Drury  Lane.  The  mask  played  a  prominent  part  in  these  plays, 
no  object  being  more  common  among  the  discoveries  of  Pompeii 
than  the  tragic  and  the  comic  mask.  The  plays  were  mainly 
from  the  Greek,  and  one  can  imagine  and  almost  envy  the  multi- 
tudes who  swarmed 
along  these  bench- 
es and  witnessed 
the  tragedies  of 
/Eschylus.  There 
is  room  enough  in 
this  theater  (the 
one  which  General 
Grant  and  his  party 
so  calmly  surveyed) 
to  contain  five 
thousand  people. 
Beyond    this    is    a 


STREET   1M    POMPEII. 


small  theater  which  would  hold  fifteen  hundred  persons.  The 
amphitheater  is  at  the  outside  of  the  town,  and  from  the 
plans  of  it  the  writer  studied,  our  party  being  too  weary  to 
walk  the  distance,  it  was  a  counterpart  of  the  bull  rings  which 
you  see  in  Spain  at  the  present  day.      The  amphitheater  was  the 


tQ2  THE  MEDITERRANEAN— VESUVIUS— POMPEII. 

popular  place  of  amusement  in  Pompeii,  as  the  bull  ring  is  to- 
day in  Madrid  and  Seville.  It  had  accommodations  for  the 
whole  population.  In  the  center  was  an  arena,  and  in  the 
center  of  the  arena  an  altar  dedicated  to  Pluto  or  Diana,  or 
some  of  the  Jupiter  species.  It  was  here  that  the  gladiators 
fought.  Sometimes  they  fought  with  wild  beasts  who  were  in- 
troduced into  the  arena. 

We  have  representations  in  the  museum  of  combats  be- 
tween gladiators  and  the  bull,  the  lion  and  the  panther.  In 
some  of  these  pictures  the  man  is  unarmed.  Others  show  a 
gladiator  in  the  attitude  of  a  Spanish  matadore  in  a  bull  ring, 
fighting  a  bear.  The  gladiator  holds  the  cloak  in  one  hand  and 
the  sword  in  the  other,  precisely  as  Senor  Don  Larzuello  goes 
down  the  arena  in  Madrid  to  fight  an  Andalusian  bull.  There  are 
frescoes  showing  how  men  fought  on  horseback,  the  men  armed 
with  helmets,  spears,  and  oval  bucklers  about  large  enough  to 
cover  the  breast.  The  most  frequent  pictures  are  those  of  gladi- 
ators on  foot,  wearing  winged  helmets,  buskins  of  leather,  on 
the  thighs  iron  guards,  greaves  on  the  knees,  the  other  parts  of 
the  body  naked.  You  remember,  no  doubt,  the  picture  of 
Gerome,  representing  the  arena — one  gladiator  prostrate,  the 
other  over  him  with  sword  extended,  awaiting  the  signal  from 
the  emperor  as  to  whether  he  would  slay  his  foe.  The  signal 
was  given  by  the  spectators  turning  their  thumbs  if  they  want 
death.  It  was  the  wounded  man's  privilege  to  ask  for  life,  which 
he  did  by  raising  his  finger  in  supplication.  In  most  of  these 
pictures  we  have  the  raised  finger  in  entreaty.  Some  show  that 
the  prayer  has  been  refused,  and  the  sword  of  the  victor  is  at 
the  throat  of  the  victim.  In  this  amphitheater  the  Christians 
were  thrown  to  the  lions,  and  the  ashes  still  encumber  the  door 
through  which  the  ghastly  bodies  of  the  slain  were  dragged 
after  they  had  been  "butchered  to  make  a  Roman  holiday." 

It  is  in  these  remnants  of  Pompeiian  splendor  that  we  see 
the  cruelty  of  the  old  Roman  life.  We  turn  from  it  with  a  feel- 
ing of  relief,  as  it  is  not  pleasing  to  think  that  such  things  ever 
were  possible  in  a  world  as  beautiful  and  refined  as  that  sur- 
rounding Pompeii.      We  pass  to  happier  scenes,  glimpses  of  the 


REMNANTS    OF  SPLENDOR.  m, 

real  life  as  it  was  two  thousand  years  ago.  The  value  of  these 
ruins  is  in  the  truthfulness  of  what  we  see  around  us.  We  tire 
of  temples,  and  fauns,  and  shows.  How  did  these  people  live  ? 
We  see  that  there  was  little  or  no  poverty  in  Pompeii.  If  there 
was  any  Five  Points  or  Seven  Dials  quarter  it  has  not  been  ex- 
cavated. This  was  a  happy  summer  town,  where  people  came 
to  find  their  pleasures.  There  was  the  house  of  unspeakable 
shame,  which  the  guide,  with  glistening  eyes,  pointed  out  to  the 
General  as  the  special  object  of  interest  to  tourists.  But  our 
General  had  no  interest  in  scenes  of  shame  and  vice,  and  declined 
to  enter  the  house.  We  sauntered  about  from  street  to  street, 
and  looked  at  the  house  called  the  house  of  the  Tragic  Poet.  It 
is  here  that  Bulwer  Lytton  places  the  home  of  Glaucus,  in  his 
"  Last  Days  of  Pompeii."  We  pass  a  lake  house  where  the 
mills  are  ready  to  grind  corn,  and  our  guide  explains  how  it 
was  done  in  the  ancient  days — "  Pretty  much,"  the  General  re- 
marks, "as  it  is  done  in  primitive  settlements  now."  Here  is 
an  arcade  which  was  supposed  to  be  a  market.  Here  is  a  sub- 
terranean passage  leading  to  a  dungeon.  In  the  roof  was  a  hole 
through  which  the  judge  announced  to  the  prisoners  their  fate. 
We  can  fancy  Christian  martyrs  clustering  under  these  walls, 
and  fearing  not  even  the  lions,  in  the  blessed  hope  of  that  salva- 
tion whose  gospel  had  only  come  from  the  shores  of  Galilee. 
We  see  ruined  tombs  and  evidences  of  cremation,  and  house 
after  house,  streets  and  houses  without  end,  until  we  become 
bewildered  with  the  multitude  and  variety  of  sights.  The  im- 
pression made  by  the  journey  may  be  summed  up  in  a  remark 
of  General  Grant,  that  Pompeii  was  one  of  the  few  things  which 
had  not  disappointed  his  expectations,  that  the  truth  was  more 
striking  than  imagination  had  painted,  and  that  it  was  worth  a 
journey  over  the  sea  to  see  and  study  its  stately,  solemn  ruins. 

The  Italian  authorities  did  General  Grant  special  honor  on 
his  visit  to  Pompeii  by  directing  that  a  house  should  be  exca- 
vated. It  is  one  of  the  special  compliments  paid  to  visitors  of 
renown.  The  guide  will  show  houses  that  have  been  excavated 
in  the  presence  of  Murat  and  his  queen,  of  General  Champion- 
net,  and  Joseph  II.,  of  Admiral  Farragut  and  General  Sher- 
13 


i94 


THE  MEDITERRANEAN—  VESUVIUS— POMPEII. 


man,  and  General  Sheridan.  These  houses  are  still  known  by 
the  names  of  the  illustrious  persons  who  witnessed  their  exhu- 
mation, and  the  guide  hastens  to  point  out  to  you,  if  you  are 

an  American, 
where  honor 
was  paid  to  our 
countrymen. 
When  S  h  e  r- 
man  and  Sheri- 
dan were  here 
large  crowds 
attended,  and 
the  occasion 
w  as  made 
quite  a  picnic. 
B  u  t  General 
Grant's  visit 
was  known  only 
to  a  few,  and  so 
when  the  di- 
rector of  exca- 
vations led  the 
way  to  the  proposed  work, 
there  were  the  General  and 
It;  his  party  and  a  group  of  our 
gallant  and  courteous  friends 
from  the  "Vandalia."  The 
quarter  selected  was  near 
the  Forum.  Chairs  were  ar- 
ranged for  the  General,  Mrs.  Grant,  and  some  of  us,  and  there 
quietly,  in  a  room  that  had  known  Pompeiian  life  seventeen 
centuries  ago,  we  awaited  the  signal  that  was  to  dig  up  the 
ashes  that  had  fallen  from  Vesuvius  that  terrible  night  in  August. 
Our  group  was  composed  of  the  General,  his  wife  and  son,  Mr. 
Duncan,  the  American  Consul  in  Naples,  Commander  Robeson, 
of  the  "Vandalia,"  Lieutenants  Strong,  Miller  and  Rush,  and 
Engineer  Baird,  of  the  same  ship.     We  formed  a  group  about 


E\C  \\  ATING    A    HOUSE. 


EXCAVATING   A    HOUSE.  lQ)- 

the  General,  while  the  director  gave  the  workmen  the  signal. 
The  spades  dived  into  the  ashes,  while  with  eager  eyes  we 
looked  on.  What  story  would  be  revealed  of  that  day  of  agony 
and  death  ?  Perhaps  a  mother,  almost  in  the  fruition  of  a  proud 
mother's  hopes,  lying  in  the  calm  repose  of  centuries,  like  the 
figure  we  had  seen  only  an  hour  ago  dug  from  these  very  ruins. 
Perhaps  a  miser  hurrying  with  his  coin  only  to  fall  in  his  door- 
way, there  to  rest  in  peace  while  seventeen  centuries  of  the 
mighty  world  rolled  over  him,  and  to  end  at  last  in  a  museum. 
Perhaps  a  soldier  fallen  at  his  post,  or  a  reveller  stricken  at  the 
feast.  All  these  things  have  been  given  us  from  Pompeii,  and 
we  stood  watching  the  nimble  spades  and  the  tumbling  ashes, 
watching  with  the  greedy  eyes  of  gamblers  to  see  what  chance 
would  send.  Nothing  came  of  any  startling  import.  There 
were  two  or  three  bronze  ornaments,  a  loaf  of  bread  wrapped  in 
cloth,  the  grain  of  the  bread  and  the  fiber  of  the  cloth  as  clearly 
marked  as  when  this  probable  remnant  of  a  humble  meal  was 
put  aside  by  the  careful  housewife's  hands.  Beyond  this,  and 
some  fragments  which  we  could  not  understand,  this  was  all  that 
came  from  the  excavation  of  Pompeii.  The  director  was  evi- 
dently disappointed.  He  expected  a  skeleton  at  the  very  least 
to  come  out  of  the  cruel  ashes  and  welcome  our  renowned  guest, 
who  had  come  so  many  thousand  miles  to  this  Roman  entertain- 
ment. He  proposed  to  open  another  ruin,  but  one  of  our  "Van- 
dalia "  friends,  a  very  practical  gentleman,  remembered  that  it 
was  cold,  and  that  he  had  been  walking  a  good  deal  and  was 
hungry,  and  when  he  proposed  that,  instead  of  excavating 
another  ruin,  we  should  "  excavate  a  beefsteak  "  at  the  restau- 
rant near  the  gate  of  the  sea,  there  was  an  approval.  The 
General,  who  had  been  leisurely  smoking  his  cigar  and  study- 
ing the  scene  with  deep  interest,  quietly  assented,  and,  thanking 
the  director  for  his  courtesy,  said  he  would  give  him  no  more 
trouble.  So  the  laborers  shouldered  their  shovels  and  marched 
off  to  their  dinner,  and  we  formed  in  a  straggling,  slow  proces- 
sion, and  marched  down  the  street  where  Nero  rode  in  triumph, 
and  across  the  Forum,  where  Cicero  may  have  thundered  to 
listening  thousands,  and  through  the   narrow  streets,  past  the 


196 


THE  MEDITERRANEAN—  1  ESi'l TVS— POMPEII. 


wine  shops  filled  with  jars  which  contain  no  wine — past  the 
baker's,  whose  loaves  are  no  longer  in  demand — past  the  thrifty 
merchant's,  with  his  sign  warning  idlers  away,  a  warning  that 
has  been  well  heeded  by  generations  of  men — past  the  house  of 
the  Tragic  Poet,  whose  measures  no  longer  burden  the  multi- 
tude, and  down  the  smooth,  slippery  steps  that  once  led  through 
the  gate  opening  to  the  sea — steps  over  which  fishermen  trailed 
their  nets  and  soldiers  marched  in  stern  procession — into  the 
doors  of  a  very  modern  tavern.  Pompeii  was  behind  us,  and  a 
smiling  Italian  waiter  welcomed  us  to  wine  and  corn,  meat  and 


& 


bread,  olives   and   orano-es.      Around  his  wholesome  board  we 


m 


gathered,  and  talked  of  the  day  and  the  many  marvels  we  hi 


& 
seen 


-~w 


THE    MEU1  I  KUKANl£  AN. 


CHAPTER    VII. 


THE     MEDITERRANEAN. 


jJFE  arrived  in  Palermo  at  noon  on  the  23d  of  Decem- 
ber, 1877.  We  found  Palermo  attractive  enough, 
especially  as  the  town  was  in  the  full  glow  of  Christ- 
mas finery.  Here  we  celebrated  our  Christmas  fes- 
tival. The  officers  of  the  "  Vandalia"  dedicated  their  festival 
as  a  special  honor  to  Mrs.  Grant.  The  day  was  colder  than 
usual  in  this  sunny  climate,  and  those  of  us  who  had  remem- 
bered to  bring  winter  apparel  did  not  find  it  out  of  place.  Pa- 
lermo, although  under  the  dominion  of  the  liberal  King  Victor 
Emmanuel,  still  contains  enough  of  the  Bourbon  and  ecclesias- 
tical element  to  give  a  festival  like  Christmas  especial  value. 
On  Christmas  Eve  a  delegation  of  ship  captains,  now  in  port, 
plying  between   Palermo  and   New   England,   called   and   paid 

197 


198 


THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 


their  respects  to  the  General.  Christmas  morning  their  ships 
were  radiant  with  bunting  in  honor  of  our  guest.  The  morning 
came  with  the  ringing  of  multitudinous  bells,  whose  peals  came 
over  the  bay,  telling  us  that  the  good  people  of  Palermo  were 
rejoicing  in  the  Nativity.  The  effect  of  this  bustle  and  tumult 
of  sound — bells  in  every  key  and  tone,  ringing  and  pealing  and 
chiming,  their  echoes  coming  back  from  the  gray  hills,  under 
whose  shadow  we  were  anchored,  was  unique,  and  as  every  bell 
awakened  a  memory  of  home,  the  day  brought  a  feeling  of 
homesickness,  visible  on  many  faces,  as  they  came  into  the 
wardroom,  interchanging  the  compliments  of  the  season.  The 
General  remained  on  board  until  noon  to  receive  the  visit  of 
the  prefect,  who  came  in  state,  and  was  honored  with  a  salute 
of  fifteen  guns.  His  Honor  remained  only  a  few  minutes,  in 
which  he  tendered  the  General  all  the  hospitalities  and  courte- 
sies of  the  town.  But  the  General  declined  them,  with  thanks. 
After  the  departure  of  the  city  authorities,  the  General  and 
Captain  Robeson  went  on  shore  and  sauntered  about  for  two 
or  three  hours,  looking  on  the  holiday  groups  who  made  the 
day  a  merry  one  in  their  Sicilian  fashion.  There  were  spurts 
of  rain  coming  from  the  hills,  which  dampened  the  enthusiasm 
of  this  lazy,  happy,  sun-loving  people. 

There  was  nothing  in  the  rain  to  deter  any  one  accustomed 
to  our  cold,  gray  northern  skies,  and  the  General  continued  his 
walk  without  even  paying  the  weather  the  tribute  of  an  um- 
brella. Some  of  the  officers  went  to  the  pretty  little  Episco- 
palian church,  and  others  busied  themselves  in  preparing  for 
the  Christmas  dinner.  I  never  knew  the  capacities  of  a  narrow 
wardroom  until  I  saw  what  Lieutenant  Miller  and  his  assistants 
achieved  on  the  "  Vandalia."  The  hatchway  became  an  arbor, 
the  low  ceiling  bloomed  with  greenery,  the  mast  seemed  about 
to  return  to  its  original  leafage.  The  table  became  a  parterre 
of  flowers  and  trailing  vines,  and  although  the  limitations  of  the 
service  were  felt  in  the  candles  and  candlesticks,  the  whole  room 
was  so  green  and  fresh  and  smiling  when  we  came  down  to  din- 
ner, that  it  seemed  like  a  glimpse  of  far,  dear  America.  The 
hour  for   dinner  was   half-past   five,  and  we   assembled  in   the 


CHRISTM.  IS  DINNER. 


I  99 


wardroom  with  naval  promptitude.  I  give  you  the  names  of 
the  hosts :  Chief-Engineer  J.  Trilley,  Surgeon  George  H. 
Cooke,  Lieutenant-Commander  A.  G.  Caldwell,  Lieutenant  E. 
T.  Strong,  Past  Assistant-Engineer  G.  W.  Baird,  Past  Assist- 
ant-Engineer D.  M.  Fulmer,  Lieutenant  Jacob  W.  Miller,  Pay- 
master J.  P.  Loomis,  Lieutenant  Richard  Rush,  Captain  L.  E. 
Fagan,  commanding  the  marines;  Lieutenant  H.  O.  Handy, 
Lieutenant  W.  A.  Had- 
den,  and  Master  J.  W. 
Dannenhower. 

In  this  list  you  have 
the  names  of  the  ward- 
room officers  of  the 
"  Vandalia,"  and  if  it  were 
not  so  soon  after  the  feast 
as  to  excite  a  suspicion 
of  my  disinterestedness, 
I  would  tell  you  what  a 
gallant,  chivalrous  com- 
pany they  are.  The 
quests  of  the  evenine 
were  :  General  Grant  and 
wife;  Commander  H.  B. 
Robeson,  commanding 
the  ship  ;  Jesse  R.  Grant, 
and  the  writer  of  these 
lines.  The  General  look- 
ed unusually  well  as  he 
took  his  seat  between 
Lieutenant-Commander  Caldwell  and  Paymaster  Loomis,  his 
face  a  little  tanned  by  the  Mediterranean  sun,  but  altogether 
much  younger  and  brighter  than  I  have  seen  him  for  many 
years.  The  abandon  of  ship  life,  the  freedom  from  the  toils 
of  the  Presidency,  the  absence  of  the  clamor  and  scandal  of 
Washington  life  have  driven  away  that  tired,  weary,  anxious 
look  which  marked  the  General  during  his  later  years  as  Presi- 
And,  as  he  sat  under  the  green  boughs  of  the  Christmas 


GENERAL  GRANT  AND  CAPTAIN  ROBESON  IN  PALERMO. 


dent. 


200  THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 

decoration,  the  center  of  our  merry  company,  it  seemed  as  if  he 
were  as  young  as  any  of  the  mess,  a  much  younger  man  by  far 
than  our  junior  Dannenhower,  who  looks  grave  and  serious 
enough  to  command  all  the  fleets  in  the  world.  Mrs.  Grant 
was  in  capital  health  and  spirits,  and  quite  enchanted  the  mess 
by  telling  them,  in  the  earliest  hour  of  the  conversation,  that 
she  already  felt  when  she  came  back  to  the  "  Vandal  ia"  from 
some  errand  on  shore  as  if  she  were  coming  home.  I  wish  I 
could  lift  the  veil  far  enough  to  show  you  how  much  the  kind, 
considerate,  ever-womanly  and  ever-cheerful  nature  of  Mrs. 
Grant  has  won  upon  us  all  ;  but  I  must  not  invade  the  privacy 
of  the  domestic  circle.  She  was  the  queen  of  the  feast,  and  we 
gave  her  queenly  honor. 

This  was  the  company,  and  I  give  you  our  main,  as  an  idea 
of  what  a  ship's  kitchen  can  do  for  a  Christmas  dinner  : 

Potage. 

Tomate  puree. 

Bouchees  a  la  reine. 

Cabellon  a  la  Hollandaise. 

Puree  de  pommes. 
Dindonneau  aux  huitres. 

Haricots  verts. 

Filets  aux  champignons. 

Petits  pois. 

Punch  a  la  Romaine. 

Salade. 

Plum  pudding. 

Mince  pies. 

Dessert. 

It  was  nearly  six  when  the  soup  made  its  appearance,  and  it 
was  half-past  eight  before  the  waiters,  in  their  cunning  white 
canvas  jackets  and  black  silk  scarfs,  brought  in  the  coffee. 
The  dinner  went  with  the  cadence  of  a  well-rehearsed  opera. 
There  was  no  hurry — no  long  pauses.  The  chat  went  around 
the  table,  the  General  doing  his  share  of  talk.  I  wish  I  could 
tell  you  many  of  the  things  that  were  said  ;  but  here  again 
the  necessities  of  my  position  fall  in  the  way.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  it  was  a  merry,  genial,  home-like  feast,  and  when  Mrs. 
Grant  sueeested  that  we  remember  in   our  toast,  "  Loved  ones 


CHRISTMAS. 


20I 


at  home,"  it  was  drunk  with  many  an  amen,  and  many  a  silent 
prayer  for  the  loved  ones  over  the  seas.  I  mention  this  toast 
because  it  was  the  only  one  of  the  evening.  There  was  a  con- 
spiracy, headed  by  Surgeon  Cooke,  to  force  Lieutenant-Com- 
mander Caldwell  into  proposing  the  General's  health  and  com- 
pelling him  to  speak.  But  Caldwell,  like  the  illustrious  captain 
on  his  right,  is  an   obstinate   and  a  somewhat  silent  man,  and 


CHRISTMAS    DINNER    ON   THE    "  VANDAUA. 


there  was  no  speech.      But  what  was  more  welcome  was  the 
cigar,  which  ended  our  evening. 

It  was  between  nine  and  ten  when  we  came  out  on  deck. 
The  ships  in  our  neighborhood  were  blazing  with  fireworks,  and 
vocal  with  songs  and  cheers  from  neighboring  ships — cheers 
among  other  things  for  "  General  Grant."  The  men  who  gave 
these  cheers  were  Germans  and  Englishmen  who  were  in  port 
on  their  way  from  Constantinople  to  England.  They  were 
honoring  Christmas  in  their  honest,  homely  way,  and,  knowing 
that  the  General  was  with   us,  they  sent  him  their  hearty  wel- 


202  THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 

come  and  congratulation.  So  we  sauntered  about  and  listened 
to  the  merriment  on  the  ships  and  the  ringing  of  the  Christ- 
mas bells  in  Palermo,  and  watched  the  moon  trailing  through 
the  clouds,  and  studied  the  outlines  of  the  hills  where  the 
Carthaginians  once  held  the  power  of  Rome  at  bay.  Our 
Christmas  had  been  a  merry  and  pleasant  one — as  merry  and 
pleasant,  I  will  add,  as  such  a  day  can  be  thousands  of  miles 
from  home. 

The  next  morning  there  were  calls  to  make — official  calls  on 
consuls  and  generals  and  prefects  and  great  people.  This  is  one 
of  the  duties — I  was  nearly  writing  penalties — of  our  trip.  The 
incognito  of  General  Grant  is  one  that  no  one  will  respect.  He 
declines  all  honors  and  attentions,  so  far  as  he  can  do  so  with- 
out rudeness,  and  is  especially  indifferent  to  the  parade  and 
etiquette  by  which  his  journey  is  surrounded.  It  is  amusing, 
knowing  General  Grant's  feelings  on  this  subject,  to  read  the 
articles  in  English  and  home  papers  about  his  craving  for  pre- 
cedence and  his  fear  lest  he  may  not  have  the  proper  seat  at 
table  and  the  highest  number  of  guns.     General  Grant  has  de- 

o  o 

clined  every  attention  of  an  official  character  thus  far,  except 
those  whose  non-acceptance  would  have  been  misconstrued. 
When  he  arrives  at  a  port  his  habit  is  to  go  ashore  with  his 
wife  and  son,  see  what  is  to  be  seen,  and  drift  about  from  palace 
to  picture  gallery  like  any  other  wandering,  studious  American 
doing  Europe.  Sometimes  the  officials  are  too  prompt  for 
him  ;  but  generally,  unless  they  call  by  appointment,  they  find 
the  General  absent.  This  matter  is  almost  too  trivial  to  write 
about ;  but  there  is  no  better  business  for  a  chronicler  than  to 
correct  wrong  impressions  before  creating  new  ones.  Here, 
for  instance,  is  an  editorial  article  from  an  American  newspaper 
which  has  drifted  into  our  wardroom  over  these  Mediterranean 
seas.  The  journal  is  a  responsible  newspaper,  with  a  wide  cir- 
culation. It  informs  us  that  General  Grant  travels  with  a 
princely  retinue  ;  that  he  is  enabled  to  do  so  because  the  men 
who  fattened  oh  the  corruptions  of  his  administration  gave  him 
a  share  of  their  plunder.  He  went  to  the  Hotel  Bristol  in 
Paris.      He  took  the  Prince  of  Wales's  apartments.      He  never 


VANDALIA. 


203 


asks  the  cost  of  his  rooms  at  hotels,  but  throws  money  about 
with  a  lavish  hand.  These  are  the  statements  which  one  reads 
here  in  the  columns  of  an  American  journal.  The  truth  is  that 
General  Grant  travels  not  like  a  prince,  but  as  a  private  citizen. 
He  has  one  servant  and  a  courier.  He  never  was  in  the  Prince 
of  Wales's  apartments  in  the  Hotel  Bristol  in  his  life.  His 
courier  arranges  for  his  hotel  accommodations,  as  couriers 
always  do,  and  the 
one  who  does  this 
office  for  the  Gene- 
ral takes  pains  to 
make  as  good  bar- 
gains for  his  master 
as  possible.  So  far 
from  General  Grant 
being  a  rich  man,  I 
think  I  am  not  break- 
ing confidence  when 
I  say  that  the  dura- 
tion of  his  trip  will 
depend  altogether 
upon  his  income,  and 
his  income  depends 
altogether  upon  the 
proceeds  of  his  in- 
vestment  of  the 
money  presented  to 
him  at  the  close  of 
the  war.  The  Presi- 
dency yielded  him 
nothing  in  the  way  of  capital,  and  he  has  not  now  a  dollar  that 
came  to  him  as  an  official.  By  this  I  mean  that  the  money 
paid  General  Grant  as  a  soldier  and  as  a  President  was  spent 
by  him  in  supporting  the  dignity  of  his  office.  Everybody 
knows  how  much  money  was  given  him  at  the  close  of  the 
war.  As  this  was  all  well  invested  and  has  grown,  you  may 
estimate    the    fortune    of    the    General    and    about    how    long 


MRS.    GRANT. 


204 


THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 


that  fortune  would  enable  him  to  travel  like  a  prince  or  a  Tam- 
many exile  over  Europe.  There  are  many  people  at  home  who 
do  not  like  General  Grant,  who  quarrel  with  his  politics  and 
think  his  administration  a  calamity.  That  is  a  matter  of  opinion. 
But  his  fame  as  a  soldier  is  dear  to  every  patriotic  American, 
and  I  am  glad   of  the  opportunity  of  brushing  away   one   or 

two  of  the  cobwebs  of  slander 
which  I  see  growing  over  it. 

But  this  is  a  digression. 
I  was  thinking  of  Palermo  in 
her  holiday  finery ;  for  the 
Christmas  bells  are  in  the  air, 
and,  as  we  walk  from  street  to 
street,  we  see  the  South,  the 
Catholic  South,  in  every  group. 
I  can  well  imagine  how  this 
sunny,  picturesque  town  might 
grow  on  one  after  a  time.  Yet, 
to  our  prim,  well  -  ordered 
Northern  eyes,  it  is  hard  to 
become  accustomed  to  its  dirt 
and  squalor.  This  Sicily  is 
the  land  of  many  civilizations. 
Here  the  Greek,  the  Cartha- 
ginian, the  Roman,  and  the  Saracen  have  made  their  mark. 
This  is  the  land  of  the  poetry  of  Homer,  the  genius  of  Ar- 
chimedes, the  philosophy  and  piety  of  Paul.  These  hills  and 
bays  and  valleys  have  seen  mighty  armies  striving  for  the 
mastery  of  the  world.  Certainly,  if  example,  or  precept,  or 
the  opportunity  for  great  deeds  could  ennoble  a  nation,  Sicily 
should  be  the  land  of  heroes.  But  its  heroism  has  fallen  into 
rags,  and  the  descendants  of  the  men  who  destroyed  the  Athe- 
nian fleet  in  Syracuse,  and  who  confronted  the  power  of  Car- 
thage at  Agrigentum,  now  spend  their  time  sleeping  in  the  sun. 
swarming  around  chapel  doors  to  beg,  and  hiding  in  the  hills  to 
waylay  travelers  and  rob  them  or  keep  them  for  a  ransom. 
Brioandaee  has  for  generations  been  the  dominant  industry  in 


CATHEDRAL  OF    PALERMO. 


PALERMO.  20_ 

the  Sicilies.  If  I  were  to  repeat  all  the  stories  of  the  banditti 
I  might  tax  your  credulity.  There  is  nothing  that  takes 
romantic  dimensions  so  rapidly  as  stories  of  crime  and  adven- 
ture. But  one  of  the  gentlemen  who  called  on  General  Grant 
yesterday  is  an  English  banker  resident.  A  few  months  ago  he 
went  out  of  town  with  his  brother  to  visit  some  mining  property 
in  which  he  was  interested.  When  he  reached  the  station,  and 
was  quietly  walking  through  the  town,  two  horsemen  galloped 
up,  leading  a  riderless  horse.  They  had  carbines  over  their 
shoulders.  They  stopped  the  banker  and  bade  him  mount. 
He  objected,  and  appealed  to  some  fellow  passengers  for  pro- 
tection. They  shrugged  their  shoulders,  and  told  him  that 
God's  will  had  to  be  done,  and  he  had  better  mount;  these 
armed  men  were  Leoni,  the  terrible  brigand,  and  a  lieutenant 
who  would  murder  any  who  interfered  with  him.  So  the  banker 
was  mounted  and  carried  into  the  hills.  He  lived  in  a  cave  and 
was  arrayed  in  brigand's  costume.  A  messenger  was  sent  to 
his  family  saying  that  unless  sixty  thousand  francs  were  paid 
within  a  certain  time  the  banker  would  be  slain.  The  money 
was  paid,  one  half  by  the  Government,  the  other  by  the  family, 
and  the  banker  came  home  after  three  weeks'  life  in  the  hills. 
All  this  happened  within  a  few  months,  and  the  victim  is  as 
well  known  in  Palermo  as  Mr.  Belmont  in  New  York.  The 
capture  was  arranged  on  careful  business  principles.  The 
bandit  bribed  a  servant  of  the  banker  to  inform  him  of  his 
master's  movements,  and  took  his  measures  accordingly. 

I  allude  to  brigandage  as  a  dominant  industry.  But  it  is 
due  to  the  Italian  Government  to  say  that  the  authorities  have 
done  all  in  their  power  to  suppress  it.  This  brings  me  to 
another  point — the  manifest  and  gratifying  advance  that  has 
been  made  in  Sicily  since  the  union  of  the  Italian  nation  under 
Victor  Emmanuel.  I  have  no  doubt  that  there  are  many  things 
about  such  a  reign  as  that  of  the  Bourbons  to  be  regretted, 
especially  by  a  society  like  that  of  Palermo.  In  the  Bourbon 
days  kings  came  here  and  lived  in  the  palaces.  Now  the  pal- 
aces are  deserted.  Occasionally  a  prince  comes  and  there  is  a 
ripple   of  life,  but  as  a  general  thing   Palermo  is  no  longer  a 


206  THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 

royal,  courtly  town.  I  visited  one  or  two  of  the  houses  of  the 
king- — houses  which  are  untenanted  unless  by  the  royal  ser- 
vants. There  was  the  chateau  of  La  Favorita,  for  instance. 
We  reached  it  by  a  long  drive  through  the  environs  of  the  city, 
under  range  of  Monte  Pellegrino.  This  range  is  one  of  the 
attractions  of  the  city.  It  is  a  gray  limestone  of  early  forma- 
tion, which  Goethe  found  "  indescribably  beautiful."  To  my 
mind  it  resembles  the  Palisades,  opposite  Yonkers,  although 
there  is  more  beauty,  more  grandeur  in  our  brown  Hudson  hills. 
It  was  to  a  cavern  here  that  St.  Rosalia  retired  to  live  out  her 
brief  and  holy  life,  and  pilgrims  go  to  the  shrine  where  her 
statue  lies  carved  in  marble  and  covered  with  bridal  robes.  We 
drive  along  the  base  of  the  hills  through  avenues  of  orange  and 
olive  trees  until  we  come  to  the  chateau.  Two  or  three  liveried 
servants  awaited  us.  The  gates  were  closed.  The  avenues 
were  untidy.  There  was  no  sign  of  life  in  the  house,  and  yet 
the  site  was  one  of  rare  natural  beauty.  It  was  the  work  of 
Ferdinand  IV.,  a  mighty  sovereign,  who  now  rests  with  God. 
Ferdinand  governed  for  as  many  years  as  George  III.  He 
was  driven  out  by  the  French  and  brought  back  by  the  English, 
and  after  receiving  from  Murat  many  attentions  when  Murat 
was  king,  afterward  shot  the  French  hero  as  a  revolutionist. 
Ferdinand  belonged  to  the  driftwood  period  of  European  poli- 
tics, and  had  an  uneasy  time  of  it  until  Waterloo  secured  the 
tenure  of  every  despotism  in  Europe.  This  chateau  is  one  of 
his  works.  It  is  a  Chinese  building,  with  rooms  in  various 
styles  of  decoration — Turkish,  Pompeiian,  and  Chinese.  The 
view  from  the  observatory,  the  bit  of  sea  on  the  left  sweeping 
through  the  hills,  the  majestic  range  of  limestone  in  front,  to 
the  right  the  city,  with  shipping  in  the  harbor  and  the  sea 
beyond,  embowered  in  groves  of  roses  and  oranges  and  lemons 
and  olives,  made  the  spot  one  of  the  most  attractive  I  have 
ever  seen.  Yet  it  is  abandoned  to  a  few  servants.  No  royal 
persons  come  here.  The  grounds  are  closed,  except  to  those 
who  can  obtain  permission.  I  noticed  this  spirit  of  exclusion 
in  other  royal  habitations,  and  it  led  to  the  wish  that  some 
radical  parliament  would  throw  open  the  royal  reservations  to 


PALERMO. 


207 


the   people  whose   money   made  them  what  they  are  and   for 
Avhose  pleasure  they  should  be  preserved. 

Yet  the  day  of  awakening  has  come  even  to  this  Bourbon 
nest  of  Sicily.  It  is  seventeen  years  since  Garibaldi  began  here 
the  mad  errand  which  was  to  go  into  history  as  one  of  the  most 
glorious  of  heroic  deeds,  for  it  was  from  Palermo  that  he 
marched  with  a  handful  of  soldiers  and  overthrew  the  Bour- 
bons.     Behind  that  handful  of  men  was  the  spirit  of  Italian 


THE   MADONNA,    1'ALEK.M 


unity,  which  seemed  to  break  out  with  all  the  force  and  fire  and 
splendor  of  her  volcanoes.  In  that  time  great  changes  have 
come  over  Sicily.  I  was  told  that  for  twenty-five  years  before 
the  union  of  the  kingdoms  not  a  house  had  been  built  in  Paler- 
mo. Now  a  mole  has  been  thrown  out  into  the  bay.  Walls 
and  walks  encompass  the  sea.  Fine  avenues  have  been  laid 
out;  and  it  was  a  gratification  to  an  American  and  a  sign  of  the 
new  days  that  have  come  to  pass  to  see  that  one  of  these  ave- 
nues bore  the  venerated  name  of  Lincoln.  There  are  besrsfars 
enough,  as  General  Grant  and  his  friends  could  testify,  but  the 
authorities  are  pursuing  and  repressing  beggary.     The  brigands 


208  THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 

still  infest  the  hills,  but  they  are  severely  handled  when  caught, 
and  the  regular  troops  are  fast  making  brigandage  a  crime  and 
no  longer  a  form  of  political  action.  Much,  very  much  remains 
to  be  done  in  Sicily,  and  every  step  showed  us  matters  for  re- 
gret and  amendment.  We  tried  to  speculate  upon  what  a  firm, 
gifted  Englishman  or  American  would  do  with  this  island.  But 
when  we  remembered  what  Sicily  had  been  ;  that  under  the 
reign  of  the  Bourbons  the  feudal  spirit  survived  ;  that  the 
Church  has  held  it  in  the  darkest  tyranny  ;  that  for  ages  no  light 
has  fallen  upon  its  people  ;  that  they  have  been  trained  and 
coaxed  and  driven  into  the  deepest  superstition  and  ignorance  ; 
when  we  remembered  this  we  forgave  Sicily  even  her  bandits 
and  her  beggars,  and  rejoiced  with  her  sons  in  the  coming  of 
the  glorious  day  of  freedom  and  light — recalling  as  we  did  the 
eloquent  lament  of  Byron  over  Italy  of  the  Bourbon  days  : 

"  Italia  !  O  Italia  !  thou  who  hast 

The  fatal  gift  of  beauty,  which  became 
A  funeral  dower  of  present  woes  and  past, 

On  thy  sweet  brow  is  sorrow  plowed  by  shame, 
And  annals  graved  in  characters  of  flame." 

It  was  not  without  a  regret  that  we  saw  the  anchors  slowly 
release  themselves  from  their  oozy  bed  and  the  good  ship  swing 
from  her  moorings.  The  day  was  far  spent,  and  the  sun  was 
throwing  the  mountain  of  Hamilcar  in  long  trailing  shadows 
over  the  bay  of  the  beautiful  Palermo.  Beautiful  Palermo — 
beautiful  despite  the  dust  and  grime,  the  poverty  and  idleness, 
the  weakness  and  crime  of  her  people.  Something,  perhaps  it 
was  those  Christmas  bells,  had  won  us  to  the  place.  Or  per- 
haps it  was  the  four  American  flags  shining  in  the  sunshine. 
Or  perhaps  it  was  the  orange  groves.  Or  perhaps  it  was  the 
mountain  which  recalled  the  Palisades  on  the  Hudson.  Or 
perhaps  it  was  the  romantic  thought  that  in  those  hills  and 
caverns  banditti  were  in  wait  who  would  have  welcomed  any 
one  of  our  party,  more  especially  our  silent  captain,  as  a  lucra- 
tive prize.  Or  perhaps  we  were  thinking  of  Paul  and  his  jour- 
neyings  to  Rome,  and  the  fact  that  the  seas  we  were  about  to 
dare  were  the  seas  which  had  tossed  the  apostle  about  for  so 


PALERMO. 


209 


many  days.  Or  perhaps  it  was  memories  of  the  Odyssey  and  the 
wanderings  of  Ulysses,  and  the  knowledge  that  we  were  soon 
to  skirt  the  shores  of  the  ^Eolian  Islands,  and  to  pass  between 
Scylla  and  Charybdis.  I  cannot  tell  you  what  spell  it  was  that 
gave  Palermo  its  beauty.  But  we  sat  on  the  quarter  deck  and 
talked  of  these  things — the  romance,  and  the  history,  and  the 
poetry  of  the  place — while  every  moment  it  was  fading  from 
sight.     Our  wandering    Ulysses,    in   the   silent  comfort  of  an 


ISLAND   OF    STKOMBOL1 


afternoon  cigar,  had  many  warnings  of  the  sirens.  Our  Pene- 
lope was  congratulating  herself  that  she  was  daring  the  sea  with 
her  lord,  and  not  at  home  awaiting  his  coming.  We  read  how 
Paul  went  to  Malta,  and  how  Ulysses  went  on  his  travels.  We 
dug  out  of  books  the  legends,  and  sat  on  the  deck  weaving  the 
memories  of  the  place  into  a  garland,  like  idle  people  as  we 
were,  weaving-  flowers — in  a  wood.  Beautiful  Palermo  faded 
into  a  deeper  mist,  and  still  out  of  the  mist  came  those  Christ- 
mas bells  whose  peals  had  been  so  much  of  a  comfort.  I  sup- 
pose, after  all,  it  was  these  Christmas  bells  that  gave  Palermo 
its  beauty.  Every  peal  awoke  an  echo  in  our  hearts,  and  every 
echo  had  a  memory  of  home.     We  were  far  off  on  Mediter- 


2io  JHE  MEDITERRANEAN. 

ranean  seas.  We  were  in  the  lands  of  chivalry  and  fable.  But 
our  thoughts  were  in  dear,  far  America,  and  some  of  us  talked 
of  children,  and  some  of  us  of  friends,  and  however  the  talk 
might  drift  into  classic  or  scriptural  ground,  it  always  came 
back  to  home.  The  Christmas  bells  were  pealing  cheerily,  tell- 
ing that  all  Palermo  was  in  a  holiday  mood.  The  shadows 
grew  longer  and  longer.  The  hills  faded  into  clouds.  Our  city 
became  a  line  on  the  horizon.  The  breeze  caught  our  boat,  and 
with  steam  and  wind  we  plowed  through  the  waves.  The 
shadows  came — they  always  come,  even  in  the  Mediterranean. 
And  as  we  stood  and  looked  at  the  passing  day  the  sunshine, 
wreathed  in  clouds,  fell  upon  Palermo  and  lighted  its  domes 
and  housetops,  bathing  them  with  glory. 

So  Palermo  faded  from  us,  and  we  took  our  leave  of  it  as 
the  night  came,  and  we  sped  on  into  the  whispering  sea.  But 
with  night  came  more  clouds  and  wind,  and  after  we  had  supped 
the  sea  arose  and  we  had  a  gale  and  rain.  It  would  have  been 
a  trifle  in  the  Atlantic,  but  we  were  bent  on  pleasure,  and  it  was 
not  pleasant  to  think  of  the  mists  and  storms  in  the  country  of 
the  Odyssey.  I  arose  early  in  the  morning  to  see  Stromboli. 
This  island  has  an  obliging  volcano,  which  never  pauses  in  its 
entertainment.  But  when  we  came  to  Stromboli,  although  we 
were  near  enough  to  be  under  its  shadow,  there  was  only  the 
rain.  Captain  Robeson  pointed  it  out  to  me  and  I  fancied  I 
saw  it,  but  I  am  afraid  it  was  only  a  cloud.  If  there  was  any 
danger  of  the  sirens  enchanting  our  Ulysses  the  weather  saved 
him.  All  we  saw  of  the  islands  was  a  mass  in  the  mist.  The 
night  became  angry  and  the  day  brought  a  heavy  sea,  and 
I  could  well  understand  the  anxious  look  of  the  captain  when, 
about  six  in  the  morning,  he  came  out  of  his  cabin  in  his  oil- 
cloth coat  and  glass  in  hand.  We  were  driving  rapidly  upon 
the  Calabrian  coasts,  and  there  was  a  rock  he  desired  to  see. 
The  rock  had  its  place  on  the  chart  as  the  signpost  showing  the 
way  into  the  Straits  of  Messina.  But  it  had  a  far  more  impor- 
tant place  in  our  imagination,  for  it  was  the  rock  of  Scylla,  and 
the  straits  into  which  we  were  entering  were  the  straits  tor- 
mented by  the  whirlpool  of  Charybdis. 


STRAITS    OF  MESSINA. 


21  I 


We  passed  the  rock  of  Scylla  about  eight  in  the  morning. 
It  was  an  ordinary  rock,  not  very  large  or  imposing.  As  for 
Charybdis,  if  such  a  whirlpool  existed,  its  turmoil  is  over,  for 
we  plowed  through  the  waves  undisturbed  by  its  emotions. 
"This  part  of  our  trip  was  through  the  Straits  of  Messina.  The 
straits  are  narrow,  not  much  wider  than  the  Hudson  opposite 
New  York,  and  as  we  sailed  through  we  had  a  fine  view  of  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  prospects  in   Europe.     On  one  side  was 


Sicily,  on  the  other  Calabria.  We  passed  Messina — now  a  city 
of  70,000  people — her  domes  white  and  shining  in  the  sunshine. 
Messina  has  suffered  from  conquerors  since  the  days  of  Hanni- 
bal, from  the  plague,  and  from  earthquakes.  It  was  early  in  1  783 
that  the  earthquake  threw  down  the  transept  of  her  cathedral. 
Passing  Messina  we  next  saw  on  the  Italian  coast  the  town  of 
Reggio,  now  a  flourishing  settlement  of  16,000  souls.  Reggio 
has  had  its  own  troubles  with  earthquakes,  and  in  1783  was  al- 
most destroyed.  It  was  here  that  Garibaldi  landed  when  he 
crossed  from  Sicily.      It  was  also   in  the  hills  behind  Reggio — 


212  THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 

those  dark  brown  hills  that  we  see  so  clearly  in  the  morning 
sun — that  he  made  his  fatal  fight  of  Aspromonte,  and  was 
wounded  and  taken  prisoner  by  Pallavicini  in  1862,  the  same 
General  Pallavicini  who  was  so  polite  to  General  Grant  the 
other  day  in  Naples,  when  he  marched  his  troops  in  review 
before  us.  Reggio,  however,  has  a  deeper  interest  to  us  than 
even  attaches  to  the  fame  and  fortunes  of  the  illustrious  Gari- 
baldi. It  is  the  Rhegium  of  the  New  Testament.  "And  land- 
ing at  Syracuse,"  saith  the  gospel,  "  we  tarried  there  three 
days.  And  from  thence  we  fetched  a  compass  and  came  to 
Rhegium."  Passing  Reggio  we  soon  saw  on  our  right  the  ma- 
jestic mountain  of  Etna.  All  day  it  remained  with  us — the 
snow  covering  its  summit — thirty  miles  away,  but  so  vast  and 
high  that  it  seemed  only  a  mile  or  two.  Etna  is  a  quiet  vol- 
cano, or  at  least  we  could  see  nothing  but  a  cloudless  sky  above 
it.  It  looks  more  like  a  tableland  than  a  mountain.  This  is 
because  of  its  size.  The  mountain  is  ten  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  seventy  feet  high,  but  the  crater  is  a  chasm  two  or 
three  miles  wide,  and  the  circumference  of  its  base  is  more  than 
a  hundred  miles.  It  is  not  an  unreasonable  volcano  as  volca- 
noes go,  not  breaking  forth  more  than  once  every  ten  years. 
The  last  demonstration  was  in  August,  1874.  When  the  sun 
went  down  Etna  was  still  watching  us.  The  sea  was  high,  and 
our  course  was  directly  south  to  the  famous  island  of  Malta. 

We  arrived  at  Malta  about  one  in  the  afternoon  of  the  28th 
of  December.  The  gale  continued  to  be  severe.  We  thought 
of  the  ancient  times  when  Paul  was  thrown  on  the  island. 
You  will  find  the  story  in  the  last  chapters  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles — how  Paul  was  fourteen  days  driven  up  and  down  in 
Adria  ;  how  the  apostle  bade  the  centurion  and  soldiers  be  of 
good  cheer  and  stand  by  the  ship ;  how  the  angel  of  God  ap- 
peared to  Paul,  and  told  him  to  have  no  fear  ;  how  the  ship, 
with  its  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  souls,  was  cast  on  the 
rocks ;  how  they  came  to  a  place  where  two  seas  met,  and 
•'  when  they  were  escaped,  then  they  knew  the  island  was 
called  Melita."  You  will  remember,  also,  they  were  a  barba- 
rous people,  who  were  kind,  and  kindled  a  fire,  and  how  the 


MALTA.  2I, 

viper  came  out  of  the  fire  and  hung  upon  Paul's  hand.  You 
will  remember,  also,  that  Paul  shook  off  the  viper,  which  is  a  wise 
thing  to  do  with  venomous  beasts,  and  that  the  people  were 
amazed  because  Paul  did  not  swell  and  fall  dead,  and  "  said  he 
was  a  god,"  and  treated  him  courteously  and  honored  him  with 
many  honors,  and  on  his  departure  laded  him  with  such  things 
as  were  necessary. 

If  there  were  no  other  historical   attraction   in    Malta  but 


what  is  thus  written  in  the  New  Testament  it  would  be  well 
worth  a  visit.  But  Malta,  now  one  of  the  strongholds  of  the 
British  Empire,  one  of  the  citadels  on  her  Indian  highway,  has 
had  more  than  her  share  of  the  mutations  of  human  fortune. 
It  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  island  of  Ogygia,  where  Homer 
gave  a  home  to  Calypso.  It  fell  in  the  hard  hands  of  the 
Carthaginians.  Then  the  Romans  came  and  threw  it  into  their 
empire.  Then  came  the  Vandals,  the  Goths,  and  the  Arabs  in 
fierce  succession.      Afterward  came  the  unique  dominion  of  the 


214  THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 

Knights  of  St.  John,  who  came  from  Rhodes  when  the  Turks 
pulled  down  the  cross.  In  1800,  Napoleon,  then  on  his  way  to 
Egypt,  took  the  island;  but  in  1802  it  came  into  the  hands  of 
the  English,  who  have  made  it  as  strong  as  Gibraltar  ;  strong 
enough  to  be  regarded  as  impregnable. 

We  had  made  fast  to  our  anchorage  and  had  fired  the  salute 
of  twenty-one  guns,  by  which  a  vessel  of  war  does  honor  to  a 
foreign  port,  when  an  officer  reported  to  General  Grant  that 
the  Duke  of  Edinburgh  was  coming  on  board.  The  ship  next 
to  the  "  Vandalia"  was  the  "  Sultan,"  a  noble  English  ironclad, 
under  the  command  of  his  royal  highness.  The  General 
was  standing  on  the  deck,  studying  the  town,  when  the  captain's 
boat  of  the  "  Sultan,"  with  the  duke  steering,  whirled  around 
the  stern.  His  royal  highness  was  received  at  the  gangway 
by  Captain  Robeson.  He  was  dressed  in  his  uniform  as  cap- 
tain, wearing  on  his  breast  the  star  of  the  Garter.  The  Gene- 
ral advanced  and  greeted  the  duke  and  presented  the  gentle- 
men with  him,  and  they  retired  to  the  cabin.  They  remained 
in  conversation  for  the  best  part  of  an  hour,  talking  about 
Malta,  its  antiquities,  its  history,  England,  education,  the  East- 
ern question,  the  weather,  and  Besika  Bay.  His  royal  high- 
ness said  he  had  orders  to  sail,  and  supposed  his  destination  was 
Smyrna.  He  had  had  his  time  at  Besika  Bay,  and  did  not  re- 
gard the  return  with  any  enthusiasm.  He  spoke  of  the  visit  of 
his  brother-in-law,  the  Grand  Duke  Alexis,  to  America,  and  of 
the  gratification  of  the  family  at  the  reception  by  our  people. 
The  duke  is  the  pattern  of  a  sailor,  and  has  all  the  ease  and 
off-hand  grace  of  his  family.  On  taking  his  leave  his  royal 
highness  asked  the  General  and  family  to  visit  him  at  his  palace 
of  San  Antonio  and  take  luncheon.  The  palace  of  San  An- 
tonio is  about  four  miles  from  the  town.  It  is  surrounded  by 
orange  groves  and  walls,  and  is  noted  as  the  only  large  garden 
on  the  island.  The  drive  was  through  an  interesting,  glaring 
country,  the  perpetual  glare  almost  dimming  our  eyes.  When 
we  reached  the  palace  the  duke  and  duchess  received  the 
General  and  party.  After  luncheon  his  royal  highness  es- 
corted them  through    the  orange  groves.     At   noon    General 


MALTA. 


215 


Grant  visited  the  Governor  General  of  Malta.  On  leaving,  the 
General  was  saluted  with  twenty-one  guns.  A  regiment  was 
drawn  up  in  front  of  the  palace  as  a  guard  of  honor.  The 
governor,  a  famous  old  English  general,  Van  Straubeuzee, 
wore  the  order  of  the  Grand  Cross  of  the  Bath.  He  received 
the  General  and  party  at  the  door  of  the  palace,  surrounded  by 
his  council  and  a  group  of  Maltese  noblemen.  After  presen- 
tation  to   Lady  Van   Straubeuzee   the   same   ceremonies   were 


repeated.  In  the  evening  there  was  a  state  dinner  to  the 
General  and  party  at  the  palace,  including  among  the  guests 
Commander  Robeson  and  Lieutenant-Commander  Caldwell, 
of  the  "  Vandalia,"  as  well  as  the  captain  and  executive  officer 
of  the  "  Gettysburg."  At  the  dinner  General  Grant's  health 
was  proposed,  which  was  responded  to  in  the  heartiest  manner. 
We  all  then  went  to  the  opera,  and  on  the  entrance  of  the 
General  the  company  sang  the  "  Star-spangled  Banner,"  Miss 
Wheelock  of  Boston   singing  the  air.     The  cheering  was  en- 


2  J  6  THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 

thusiastic,  and  the  reception  of  the  General  cordial  in  the  last 
degree. 

There  were  many  temptations  to  remain  in  Malta.  Hos- 
pitalities showered  upon  us.  All  the  great  ones  of  the  place, 
beginning  with  his  royal  highness  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh,  vied 
with  one  another  in  making  our  visit  a  pleasant  one.  I  think 
if  our  mail  had  been  ordered  to  Malta  instead  of  Alexandria, 
we  should  have  remained  anyhow.  At  the  last  moment  there 
was  a  disposition  to  stay,  but  the  General  had  taken  his  leave 
and  sent  his  cards,  and  he  is  not  apt  to  change  his  mind.  In  the 
morning  of  the  last  day  of  the  year  he  pushed  ashore  and 
roamed  about  an  hour  or  two  through  the  quaint  streets  of 
the  strange  old  town.  I  have  called  the  town  Malta,  but  it 
is  really  named  Valetta,  after  John  de  la  Valette,  who  was 
Grand  Master  of  the  Order  of  St.  John,  and  built  the  town  in 
the  middle  part  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  knights  held 
Malta  for  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  and  remained 
until  the  French  and  then  the  English  drove  them  out.  The 
people  have  a  peculiar  dialect,  based  on  the  Arabic,  with 
plenty  of  Italian,  French,  and  English  thrown  in.  The  pre- 
vailing industry  seems  to  be  following  officers  and  strangers 
around  all  day  and  begging.  The  town  has  many  beautiful 
views,  and  I  could  see  very  easily  how  life  might  be  tolerated 
here  for  the  warm,  genial  air.  It  was  the  last  day  of  the  year 
when  we  pushed  out  into  the  bay  and  turned  our  prow  toward 
the  Mediterranean.  There  was  quite  a  group  of  officers  on 
deck  surrounding  the  General  and  his  party.  As  we  neared 
the  "  Sultan  "  the  band  played  our  national  airs,  winding  up 
with  "  Auld  Lang  Syne."  We  exchanged  greetings  with  them, 
and  with  our  compatriots  of  the  "Gettysburg,"  who  had  ga- 
thered on  the  quarterdeck  to  say  good-by.  So  our  last  remem- 
brance of  Malta  is  the  music  that  came  from  the  "  Sultan," 
the  hurra  that  came  from  the  "  Gettysburg,"  and  the  lower- 
ing of  one  solitary  flag,  far  up  the  cliff,  which  indicated  that 
our  consular  agent  was  on  the  watch  and  was  bidding  us  good 
speed. 

I  am  writing  these  lines  while  our  ship  is  speeding  through 


M.  1L  TA. 


217 


the  Mediterranean,  in  the  region  where  St.  Paul  found  the  wind 
called  Euroclydon.  We  left  Malta  in  a  soft  summer  breeze, 
and  in  the  night  the  winds  came,  and  this  morning  the  sea  is 
high  and  sweeps  over  bows,  and  the  rain  falls  and  oozes  into 
your  cot.  As  stumbling 
about  a  slippery  deck  is 
not  the  most  entertaining 
proceeding  to  one  whose 
life  has  been  mainly  spent 
on  land,  I  came  down  stairs 
and  sat  down  to  write.  It 
occurred  to  me  that  folks 
at  home  would  like  to  have 
a  sketch  of  our  life  at  sea, 
how  we  live  and  what  we 
do  when  we  are  under  sail. 
Our  company  is  com- 
posed of  General  Grant, 
his  wife,  his  son  Jesse  R. 
Grant,  a  maid,  and  a  courier, 
Mr.  Hartog,  who  has  been 
with  the  General  on  his 
journey.  The  General  oc- 
cupies the  cabin,  which  he 
shares  with  the  captain.  It  is  a  commodious  cabin,  prettily 
decorated,  with  the  exception  of  one  appalling  print  of  Wel- 
lington and  Blucher  meeting  at  Waterloo.  This  print  rather 
overwhelms  the  cabin,  and  I  can  imagine  nothing  more  con- 
ducive to  sea-sickness  than  a  calm  study  of  this  bewildering 
work  of  art.  The  General  has  a  commodious  little  room  in 
the  bow  of  the  ship  ;  his  son  lies  in  a  swinging  cot  and  takes 
his  rest  like  the  clock  pendulum.  The  steady  routine  goes 
on  around  us.  On  a  man-of-war,  life  moves  to  the  beat  of  the 
drum.  The  hours,  the  watches,  the  calls,  the  drill,  the  dis- 
cipline, the  ceremony — the  sense  of  command  and  the  sense 
of  obedience — all  this  is  so  new  to  us  that  it  becomes  interest- 
ing.     Life  on  board   of  a  man-of-war  is  like  being  a  cog  in  a 


STREET    IN   MALTA. 


2i8  THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 

wheel — you  go  around  and  around  and  cannot  help  yourself. 
You  rise  by  the  beat  of  the  drum  ;  the  drum  beats  when  you 
go  to  sleep.  Its  alarm  summons  you  to  dinner.  Everything 
is  strict,  steady,  precise.  Here  is  a  company  of  young  gentle- 
men— and,  as  far  as  one  can  know,  gifted  and  accomplished 
gentlemen — who  give  up  home,  and  a  career  at  home,  to  live 
for  years  and  years  in  a  space  about  as  large  as  a  New  York 
drawing  room.  Their  whole  life  changes.  They  merge  their 
individuality  in  a  code  of  regulations.  They  listen  for  the  drum 
tap  that  may  call  them  at  any  moment — at  midnight  to  fight  the 
storm,  at  daybreak  to  fight  an  armed  foe.  Home  and  friends 
are  given  up,  and  a  new  life — an  artificial  life — is  accepted.  I 
can  think  of  nothing  more  attractive  than  such  a  life  in  the  be- 
ginning, when  faces  are  new,  and  one  feels  the  sea  breeze  fresh- 
ening his  brow.  But  after  six  months,  after  a  year  or  two — 
how  wearisome  it  must  be  !  Yet  here  are  gentlemen  who  are 
now  in  the  second  year  of  their  cruise,  and  one  sees  no  signs  of 
strife  or  chafing.  I  suppose  such  things  do  exist,  and  that  there 
are  skeletons  in  the  staterooms  which  stranger  eyes  cannot  see ; 
but  I  have  not  seen  them,  or  any  token  of  their  existence.  I 
should  not  ask  better  comrades  in  time  of  peace,  or  better  de- 
fenders in  time  of  war,  than  my  good  friends  of  the  "  Vandalia" 
mess. 

Our  General  fell  into  his  sea  life  quite  readily.  He  seemed 
to  welcome  the  sea  with  the  rapture  of  a  boy  going  home  for  a 
holiday.  He  is  not  an  early  riser,  but  keeps  up  the  American 
custom  of  a  breakfast  at  ten.  After  breakfast  he  takes  up  a 
newspaper,  if  he  can  find  one,  and  a  cigar.  My  friend  Mark 
Twain  will  be  glad  to  know  that  the  General  read  with 
delight  and  appreciation  his  "  Innocents  Abroad."  In  Naples 
one  of  us  discovered  an  English  version  of  the  "  Nasby  Papers," 
which  was  a  boon.  About  noon,  if  the  weather  is  calm,  the 
General  comes  on  deck,  and  converses  or  studies  the  sea  and 
the  scenery.  Dinner  comes  at  six  o'clock,  and  after  dinner 
there  is  talk.  When  the  General  is  in  the  mood,  or  when  some 
subject  arises  which  interests  him,  he  is  not  only  a  good,  but  a 
remarkably  good  talker.      His  manner  is  clear  and  terse.      He 


AT  SEA. 


2IO 


narrates  a  story  as  clearly  as  he  would  demonstrate  a  problem 
in  geometry.  His  mind  is  accurate  and  perspicacious.  He 
has  no  resentments,  and  this  was  a  surprising  feature,  remem- 
bering the  battles,  civil  and  military,  in  which  he  has  been  en- 
gaged. I  have  heard  him  refer  to  most  of  the  men,  civil  and 
military,  who  have  flourished  with  him,  and  there  is  only  one 
about  whom  I  have  seen  him  show  feeling.  But  it  was  feeling 
like  that  of  the  farmer  in  the  school-book  who  saw  the  viper 


MEETING    WITH   THE    DUKE   OF    EDINBURGH. 


which  he  had  warmed  to  life  about  to  sting  him.  I  had  known 
General  Grant  fairly  well  before  I  became  the  companion  of  his 
travels,  and  had  formed  my  own  opinion  of  his  services  and 
character.  A  closer  relation  strengthens  that  opinion.  The 
impression  that  the  General  makes  upon  you  is  that  he  has  im- 
mense resources  in  reserve.  He  has  in  eminent  degree  that 
"two  o'clock  in  the  morning  courage"  which  Napoleon  said  he 
alone  possessed  among  his  marshals  and  generals.  You  are 
also  impressed  with  his  good  feeling  and  magnanimity  in  speak- 
ing of  comrades  and  rivals  in  the  war.  In  some  cases — espe- 
cially in  the  cases  of  Sherman  and  Sheridan,  MacPherson  and 


2  20  ™E  MEDITERRANEAN. 

Lincoln — it  becomes  an  enthusiasm  quite  beautiful  to  witness. 
Cadet  days  are  a  favorite  theme  of  conversation,  and  after  cadet 
life  the  events  of  the  war. 

Among  our  company  is  a  gentleman  who  attends  the  Gene- 
ral as  a  courier  or  secretary  in  foreign  tongues.  I  call  our 
friend  "  secretary "  because  the  title  is  the  one  of  his  own 
choosing.  His  name  is  Jacques  Hartog,  native  of  Holland, 
educated  in  Paris,  and  citizen  of  the  world.  We  call  him  the 
"  Marquis."  The  title  expresses  Mr.  Hartog's  address  and 
accomplishments,  and  I  am  proud  to  publish  the  renown  that 
the  "Vandalia"  mess  has  conferred  upon  him.  He  has  an 
aristocratic  air,  and  it  is  almost  like  a  breeze  from  land — a 
breeze  from  the  Sicilian  shores  laden  with  the  odor  of  the 
orange  blossoms — to  see  the  Marquis  come  to  breakfast  in  the 
wardroom,  with  the  sea  rolling  heavily,  having  passed  a  bad 
night.  We  are  all  fuzzy  and  ragged  ;  we  have  taken  refuge  in 
flannels  and  old  clothes  ;  we  have  that  uneasy  feeling  which 
verges  on  illness.  The  Marquis  comes  with  the  manner  of  a 
lord  of  the  antechamber  in  the  days  of  Louis  Ouatorze.  Every 
hair  is  in  its  place,  the  curl  is  posed  on  the  brow,  the  face  is  clean 
as  a  parchment,  the  full  brown  mustache  has  the  faintest  suspicion 
of  brillantine,  the  scarf-pin  is  adjusted.  There  is  not  a  crease  in 
his  garments.  If  the  Marquis  were  a  good  sailor  there  would  be 
no  special  merit  in  this,  but  our  noble  friend  is  a  bad  sailor  and 
hates  the  sea,  every  motion  of  the  ship  being  a  misery  to  him. 
For  a  nobleman  in  the  agonies  of  sea-sickness,  of  a  constant  sea- 
sickness, to  array  himself  as  though  he  were  about  to  prome- 
nade the  Champs  Elysees,  shows  a  power  of  self-control  which  is 
worthy  of  admiration.  The  Marquis  wants  to  know  the  Ameri- 
can people,  and  this  trip  he  proposes  to  make  the  glory  of  his 
career.  Although  General  Grant  pays  him  liberally,  no  pay 
could  induce  him  to  travel  on  board  a  man-of-war.  To  have  been 
the  courier  or  secretary  of  General  Grant  will  be  a  title  of  dis- 
tinction in  his  profession.  Consequently,  he  takes  pride  in  his 
office,  and  especially  in  fighting  the  General's  battles  with 
hotel-keepers,  hackmen,  and  beggars.  Partly  because  of  his 
renown,  and  partly  because  he  will  not  allow  a  feather  of  the 


THE  MARQUIS. 


221 


General  to  be  plucked,  he  has  aroused  enmity  in  his  profession. 
Other  couriers,  jealous  of  him,  write  anonymous  letters,  saying 
he  is  a  scoundrel,  and  threatening  to  expose  him.  These  com- 
munications he  reads  with  unruffled  composure,  and  lays  them 

before  his  master, 
who  disdains  them 
and  treats  the  Mar- 
quis with  unabated 
confidence.  T  h  e 
Marquis  does  not 
express  positive 
opinions  on  many 
subjects,  cultivation 
and  travel  having 
hardened  his  mind. 
His  intellect  swings 
from  point  to  point, 


ISLAND   OF   CAPRI. 


like  my  swinging  cot,  into  which  I  mount  with  so  much  care  for 
fear  of  vaulting  out  on  the  other  side.  But  about  hotel-keep- 
ers and  couriers,  as  a  class,  he  has  pronounced  opinions.  A 
hotel-keeper  is  very  good  so  long  as  you  keep  him  well  in 
hand  and  show  him  you  know  his  character  and  resources. 
But  once  give  way,  and  he  will  overwhelm  you  with  charges  for 
soap  and  candles  and  extras.  As  for  couriers,  the  Marquis 
thinks  badly   of  them  as  a  class.      "  My  aim,"  he  said,    "  has 


222  THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 

been  to  elevate  my  calling  to  the  dignity  of  a  profession.  But 
your  other  courier,  why,  all  he  wants  is  a  commission  and  to 
make  money.  Now  I  like  to  make  money,  of  course,  but  I 
want  to  make  reputation  first."  Two  other  subjects  upon  which 
the  Marquis  has  pronounced  opinions  are  sea  travel  and  the 
fickleness  and  inconstancy  of  woman.  If  he  had  his  way  he 
would  either  make  the  ship  go  forty-five  knots  an  hour  and  burn 
more  coal  or  run  her  ashore.  As  for  woman,  he  shares  opinions 
like  those  of  Rochefoucauld  and  Voltaire  and  Lord  Byron.  I 
observe,  however,  that  the  fair  sex  always  suffer  from  the  obser- 
vations of  gentlemen  of  rank  who  see  much  of  the  world.  You 
will  know  from  this  that  our  noble  friend  is  unmarried.  I 
advised  him  in  one  of  our  conversations  to  form  an  alliance  with 
some  of  our  ladies  of  great  fortune ;  but  he  does  not  have  an 
exalted  opinion  of  American  ladies,  as  seen  in  Paris,  and  would 
require  a  large  sum  of  money  before  he  offered  his  hand  and 
his  title.  Another  subject  which  interests  him  is  the  political 
future  of  General  Grant.  He  believes  the  American  people 
should  elect  the  General  to  the  Presidency,  and  that  they  should 
do  it  next  year.  I  explained  to  him  that  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult, very  difficult,  for  us  to  have  a  canvass  for  the  Presidency 
next  year,  or  indeed  before  1880.  The  Marquis  would  readily 
come  to  the  United  States  in  the  event  of  the  General's  elec- 
tion, and  I  gave  him  all  the  information  in  my  power  as  to  the 
law  and  mode  of  naturalization.  His  immediate  purpose  is  to 
write  a  guide-book  for  European  travel.  In  this  book  he  will 
recommend  only  such  hotels  as  General  Grant  has  patronized. 
So  great  is  the  esteem  in  which  the  General  is  held  by  all  Eng- 
lish and  American  travelers  that  they  will  rush  to  the  General's 
hotels  and  avoid  all  others.  I  suggested  that  this  would  be  de- 
structive of  the  other  houses,  but  the  Marquis  answered  that  his 
aim  was  to  destroy  the  other  houses.  He  proposed  dealing 
with  them  as  Napoleon  did  with  the  Republic  of  Venice  and 
the  minor  States  of  Italy.  His  guide-book  will  have  ample 
space  for  advertisements,  which  he  will  insert  at  reasonable 
rates,  and  on  the  proceeds  of  this  work — to  be  called  "  Hartog's 
Guide" — and  upon  his  fame  as  General  Grant's  secretary,  the 


THE  MARQUIS.  ,_, 

--J 

Marquis  will  retire  to  his  home  in  Paris,  and  there  spend  the 
remainder  of  his  days  in  glory — in  envied  glory  and  content — ■ 
unless  political  events  should  summon  him  to  the  United  States. 
These  are  the  views  of  the  Marquis,  expressed  at  various  times 
on  our  trip.  This  dream  of  glory  came  to  me  vividly  as  I  was 
passing  through  the  steerage  only  a  few  moments  ago.  It  was 
early  in  the  afternoon  and  the  sea  was  high.  There,  on  the 
floor  of  the  deck,  with  his  greatcoat  around  him — there,  pale 


SICKNFJ^S   OF   THE   MARQUIS. 


and  ghastly,  was  my  noble  friend.  Some  of  the  midshipmen 
had  been  trying  to  console  him  with  suggestions  of  beans  and 
pork  and  molasses.  Others  had  been  telling  him  of  fearful 
storms  in  the  air  coming  from  the  coast  of  Africa.  My  noble 
friend  had  surrendered,  and  there,  huddled  up  against  the  walls 
of  the  engine  room,  he  lay  in  pain  and  grief  and  illness.  "And 
this,"  I  said  as  I  climbed  up  the  stairway  to  the  deck,  not  quite 
sure  whether  I  would  keep  my  feet — "  And  this  is  only  another 
instance  of  what  men  will  do  for  glory."  For  glory  my  noble 
friend  leaves  Paris,  the  boulevards,  the  opera  bouffe,  his  even- 
ing stroll  and  his  cigar,  his  petit  souper  at   Velour's,  his  bat 


224 


THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 


masque,  and  all  the  joys  of  French  life,  and  tumbles  about  on 
this  cold  and  cruel  sea.  All  for  the  glory  of  being  the  secretary 
of  General  Grant,  who,  by  the  way,  was  quietly  walking  up  and 
down  the  quarterdeck  in  a  greatcoat,  smoking  his  after-break- 
fast cigar,  caring  nothing  for  the  sea  and  the  storm. 

An  English  nobleman  is  reported  to  have  said  that  a  man 
who  would  say  he  liked  dry  champagne  would  say  anything.  I 
thought  to-night,  as  I  felt  my  way  along  the  deck  from  the 
General's  cabin,  that  a  man  who  would  say  he  liked  the  sea 
would  say  anything.  The  night  was  cold.  The  rain  was  fall- 
ing and  bubbling  about  in  pools.  The  wind  was  ahead,  and  the 
good  old  ship  every  moment  wriggled  and  trembled  as  she 
thrust  her  head  in  the  sea.  Officers  in  weird  costumes  of  oil- 
cloth and  gutta-percha  were  moving  about,  looking  at  the  sky 
and  the  rigging,  and  the  barometer  and  the  canvas.  Hadden 
was  walking  the  bridge  with  his  trumpet,  like  an  uneasy  spirit, 
staring  into  the  night.  There  was  the  night  before  us,  around 
us,  beneath  us — not  a  star  in  the  sky,  only  heavy,  angry  clouds. 
Every  now  and  then  the  sea  came  with  a  tug  and  whirl,  and 
sometimes  forced  its  way  over  the  bow.  Far  up  on  the  yards 
were  the  lights  to  warn  other  ships  of  our  coming.  There, 
perched  in  the  rigging,  was  a  dripping  Jack  Tar,  staring  into 
the  nieht.  Now  and  then  a  call  is  heard — a  call  in  some  dialect 
unknown  to  me,  which  is  answered  from  the  bridge.  But  on 
the  forecastle  one  of  my  fair,  peach-faced  young  friends  in  the 
steerage,  a  midshipman,  keeps  his  dripping  watch,  staring  into 
the  night.  On  the  quarterdeck  my  old  friend  the  quarter- 
master, with  his  gray  head  and  grave  face,  holds  watch  and 
ward,  staring  into  the  night.  Somehow  I  have  great  confidence 
in  the  quartermaster,  and  feel  safe  when  I  see  him  on  deck. 
There  is  something  so  respectable  and  fatherly  about  this  quar- 
termaster that  you  instinctively  depend  upon  him  in  a  storm. 
In  the  wardroom  some  of  the  officers  are  writing,  others  are 
trying  to  read.  As  we  come  from  the  deck  there  is  a  run  of 
comments  and  criticisms  in  that  fresh  Saxon  sailor  method  of 
speech  which  breathes  of  the  sea.  The  night  is  very  dark,  re- 
lieved only  by  the  phosphorescent  flashes  of  the  waves  and  a 


THE  STORM.  22K 

burst  of  lightning  which  illumines  the  horizon  toward  Sicily 
and  Crete.  The  captain  comes  out  and  looks  into  the  night, 
and  visits  the  chart  room  and  the  binnacle,  and  goes  up  to  the 
bridge  to  talk  with  Hadden  and  stare  into  the  night.  1  suppose 
the  oracle  has  given  him  some  response,  for  he  returns  to  the 
cabin.  The  General  is  cheerful  over  his  zeal  and  success  as  a 
sailor,  and  is  disposed  to  vaunt  his  seamanship  when  one  of  us 
proposes  to  go  to  bed  to  prevent  further  uneasiness.  The  lady 
of  our  ship  has  been  unable  to  leave  her  cabin  on  account  of 
the  storm,  although  all  reports  concur  in  saying  that  she  proves 
to  be  an  admirable  sailor.  The  captain  overrules  one  of  her 
suggestions — that  we  should  come  to  an  anchor — by  the  state- 
ment that  it  would  do  no  good  ;  and  the  General  vetoes  another 
suggestion — that  we  should  return  to  Malta — by  the  argument 
that  we  are  as  near  to  Alexandria  as  to  Malta,  and  nothing 
would  be  gained  by  returning.  The  good  ship  strains  and 
twists  and  keeps  on  in  her  course. 

The  chief  engineer,  who  is  an  amiable  man  and  never  com- 
plains, now  finds  fault  with  the  water  for  coming  into  the  cabin. 
You  see  it  has  been  coming  in  for  an  hour,  and  when  the  boys 
have  finished  swabbing  I  suppose  it  will  come  in  again.  I  repeat 
that  a  man  who  would  say  he  liked  the  sea  would  say  any- 
thing. I  am  looking  at  my  cot,  which  swings  over  my  head  as  I 
write.  I  wonder  if  I  am  really  going  to  climb  into  it  to-night  with- 
out coming  out  on  the  other  side,  and  in  among  the  pitchers 
and  charts  in  Lieutenant  Strong's  room.  I  wonder  if  the  rain 
will  come  through  the  blankets  as  it  did  last  night.  I  wonder  if 
the  cot  in  the  midnight  watches  will  begin  a  series  of  battering- 
ram  assaults  on  the  dining  table,  as  it  did  the  night  before,  as- 
saults which  were  only  terminated  by  the  engineering  skill  of 
Mr.  Dannenhower.  Well,  we  might  as  well  be  cheerful  about 
it.  I  try  and  find  a  light  side  to  it,  although  Mr.  Caldwell 
makes  the  profound  observation  that  nothing  could  be  worse 
than  a  ship  when  it  rains.  Caldwell  as  an  executive  officer  is 
in  an  exceedingly  cheerful  mood  to-night,  arising  from  the  fact 
that  he  has  a  good  deal  to  do.  Well,  I  would  much  rather 
have  him  command  the  ship  than  myself,  my  disposition  being 


226  THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 

to  vote  for  Mrs.  Grant's  proposition  to  bring  the  ship  to  anchor. 
But  since  I  am  not  in  command,  and  since  the  ship  will  go  on 
like  a  fate,  right  on  to  the  shores  of  Phoenicia,  I  try  and  kill  an 
hour  by  writing  this  paragraph  and  giving  you  a  sketch  of  one 
of  our  evenings  at  sea. 

I  suppose  there  must  be  a  fascination  in  this  life  if  we  could 
see  it.  I  still  think,  to  repeat,  that  a  man  who  would  say  he 
liked  the  sea  would  say  anything.  In  this  opinion  I  am  sus- 
tained by  my  noble  friend  the  Marquis.  That  gentleman  in- 
formed us  all  this  evening  that  the  English  were  all  fools  (fools 
emphatically  expressed)  for  keeping  yachts,  and  that  if  he  had 
a  million  dollars  a  year  he  would  never  keep  a  yacht.  But  my 
noble  friend  was  in  deep  depression  of  spirits  at  the  time.  He 
had  been  lying  all  the  afternoon  in  a  corner  on  the  lower  deck, 
near  the  engine,  disturbed  by  the  noises  of  the  machinery  and 
the  smell  of  the  oil.  He  had  tried  to  dine,  and  no  one  knows 
better  the  philosophy  of  dinner,  but  he  retreated  with  the  soup. 
A  man — even  a  man  with  the  naturally  broad  and  generous 
mind  of  the  Marquis — would  be  apt  to  take  a  dismal  view  of 
yachting.  If  I  were  sure  there  was  no  rain  in  my  cot  I  might 
find  reasons  for  owning  a  yacht.  But  rain  in  one's  cot,  and  an 
unruly  sea  outside,  and  water  oozing  along  the  cabin  floors, 
and  a  general  feeling  of  inexpressible  discomfort,  the  feeling 
that  you  know  where  you  are  now,  but  you  are  not  sure  about 
the  minute  after  next,  these  are  incidents  tending  to  dampen 
the  enthusiasm  of  any  man — of  any  man  in  this  ship,  unless 
it  is  Caldwell,  who,  as  I  remarked,  has  never  been  so  happy  and 
cheerful  as  since  the  storm  came.  I  knew  when  he  came  down 
stairs  five  minutes  ago,  all  wreathed  in  smiles,  that  the  barome- 
ter was  going  down,  and  that  his  heart  was  leaping  with  the 
thought  that  he  might  be  on  the  bridge  all  night  battling  with 
the  winds.  But  there's  where  we  differ,  and  why,  among  other 
things,  the  Providence  who  ordained  our  fate  made  it  his  duty 
to  be  the  executive  officer  of  the  "  Vandalia  "  and  mine  to  write. 
If  I  must  go  to  sea  I  want  a  calm  sea.  I  never  saw  one  too 
calm  for  my  nerves,  not  even  on  the  Delaware  and  Raritan 
Canal.      I  like  sunshine,  and  when  I  was  in  Naples  found  rea- 


THE  STORM.  22y 

sons  for  envying  the  poor  ragged  beggars  who  had  gorged 
themselves  with  macaroni  and  were  sleeping  in  the  sun.  1 
like  to  sleep  in  a  bed  which  does  not  swing  like  a  pendulum  and 
into  which  the  rain  does  not  fall.  I  like  a  hansom  cab.  I  felt 
like  saying  to  General  Grant  the  other  evening  when  he  was 
talking  about  some  of  his  generals,  that  if  I  could  only  com- 
mand an  army  in  a  hansom  cab  I  would  do  wonders.  I  do  not 
like  rain  or  cold,  or  tumbling  seas.  One  of  the  reasons  which 
made  me  welcome  this  trip  was  the  certainty  that  I  would  pass 


mm 


m 


STREET   OF    MOHAMMED    ALT,    ALEXANDRIA. 


from  the  fogs  of  London  into  the  enrapturing  sunshine  of 
France  and  Italy.  Well,  I  have  not  found  the  sunshine  yet,  as 
I  said  to  myself  in  an  ironical  mood,  when  I  found  myself  row- 
ing ashore  in  tropical  Malta  wearing  a  heavy  English  ulster.  I 
wonder  if  I  will  find  it  in  Egypt,  toward  which  we  are  driving, 
driving,  driving  through  the  cold,  unrelenting  rain. 

I  am  afraid  I  shall  do  the  Mediterranean  an  injustice  if  I 
leave  the  impression  that  it  is  always  an  ugly  sea.  When  I 
wrote  the  last  paragraph  I  had  just  come  in  from  the  rain.  But 
this  morning  the  rain  has  gone  and  our  sea  is  as  gentle  as  a 
millpond,  and  we  begin  to  rejoice  in  sun  and  cloudless  skies. 
The  old  ship  brightens  up  like  a  spring  morning,  and  the  deck 


228  THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 

swarms  with  sailors  putting  everything  in  order.  Give  me  a 
man-of-war  for  putting  things  in  order.  There  is  no  end  to  the 
washing,  the  scrubbing,  the  cleaning  of  brass.  In  a  short  time 
the  traces  of  the  storm  are  removed  and  we  have  quarters. 
The  marine  guard  comes  to  its  post — every  man  as  fresh  as  a 
new  pin — and  as  Captain  Fagan  carefully  inspects  the  line,  our 
General  notes  that  the  line  is  well  kept  and  the  men  in  good 
discipline.  The  sailors  at  their  guns,  the  engineers  at  their 
quarters,  every  man  at  his  post,  the  inspection  goes  on,  and  re- 
ports are  made.  One  or  two  poor  fellows  who  jumped  over 
and  swam  ashore  in  Malta,  and  were  taken,  are  now  "  in  the 
brig,"  and  the  lady  of  our  ship  has  been  using  her  influence  to 
have  their  punishment  lessened — it  being  the  holiday  season, 
and  so  on.  I  do  not  like  to  ask  whether  she  has  succeeded  or 
not,  for,  as  you  will  see,  it  is  really  none  of  my  business.  But 
I  have  great  confidence  in  the  persuasive  powers  of  Mrs.  Grant, 
and  I  only  allude  to  this  incident  because  it  gives  me  an  excuse 
for  referring  to  her  generous  and  thoughtful  character,  to  that 
never-failing  kindness  and  amiability  which  go  so  far  to  enhance 
the  pleasure  of  our  trip.  As  you  stand  on  the  quarterdeck  and 
see  the  well-ordered  movements  of  the  ship  ;  the  men  in  uni- 
form going  from  place  to  place  ;  the  calls,  the  commands  ;  the 
great  menacing  guns  crouching  under  the  ports  ;  as  you  watch 
the  always  changing  novelty  of  a  man-of-war's  duties,  and  feel  the 
soft,  warm  airs  coming  over  the  calmest  of  summer  seas,  you 
be^in  to  feel  that  there  is  some  attraction  in  a  sailor's  career. 
You  see  we  are  all  on  a  sharp  lookout  this  morning,  for  Strong 
has  just  been  to  the  chart  room,  and  announced  that  land  may 
be  seen  at  any  time.  Strong  is  the  navigating  officer,  and  I 
sometimes  fear  he  has  sold  himself  to  the  common  enemy  of 
mankind,  or  how  else  could  he  prophesy  to  the  minute  when 
we  shall  see  certain  rocks  and  lights?  Why  should  he  sit  up  all 
hours  of  the  night  figuring,  figuring  huge  columns  of  figures, 
unless — well,  I  will  not  venture  my  suspicions.  He  has  told  us 
this  morning  that  we  may  see  land  at  any  moment,  and  we  all 
believe  in  Strong,  and  look  steadily  at  the  horizon,  now  fringed 
with  a  shining  mist.     How  glorious  is  the  sea  in  repose  !     Under 


ALEXANDRIA.  22o 

the  forecastle  is  a  group  of  young  officers,  and  we  hear  sounds 
of  laughter.  The  Marquis  is  out  in  full  force,  and  is  entertain- 
ing our  friends  with  anecdotes  of  high  life  in  Paris  and  render- 
ings, recitative  and  musical,  from  the  operas  of  M.  Offenbach. 
The  fringe  of  shining  mist  assumes  a  form — a  low,  white  beach; 
and,  as  we  look  closer,  tapering  lines  and  towers.  We  know, 
then,  that  the  coast  before  us  is  really  Egypt — the  land  of  imagi- 
nation and  fable — and  that  these  tapering  lines  and  towers  are 
the  minarets  of  Islam.  It  is  not  long  before  we  come  inside 
the  port  of  Alexandria,  and  before  our  engines  are  stopped  we 
hear  the  cheers  from  the  ships  and  the  Egyptian  bands  playing 
American  national  airs.  These  dear  old  strains  were  the  last 
we  heard  at  Malta  and  the  first  we  hear  at  the  Nile.  You  see 
the  protecting  telegraph  has  hovered  over  us,  and  friends  knew 
of  our  coming  ;  and  before  these  pages  reach  the  shore  they 
must  pass  through  the  smoke  of  the  cannon  now  about  to  thun- 
der Egypt's  welcome  to  General  Grant. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


EGYPT    AND    THE    NILE. 


'E  arrived  in  Alexandria  January  5th,  1878,  coming 
only  because  we  wanted  an  anchorage,  our  point  be- 
ing Cairo  and  the  Nile.  We  remained  there  three 
days.  Our  reception  was  cordial.  The  "Vanda- 
lia"  had  hardly  anchored  when  the  governor  of  the  district,  the 
admiral  and  the  generals,  pachas  and  beys,  the  Consul  General, 
Mr.  Farman;  the  Vice  Consul,  Mr.  Salvago ;  Judges  Barringer 
and  Morgan,  and  the  missionaries,  all  came  on  board.  The  re- 
ceptions  lasted  an  hour,  and  as  each  officer  was  saluted  accord- 
ing to  his  rank  and  the  salutes  were  returned,  there  was  smoke 
enough  in  the  air  for  a  naval  engagement,  and  we  could  almost 
fancy  another  battle  of  the  Nile  like  that  fought  only  a  step  or 

230 


ALEXANDRIA.  0  ,  r 

two  up  the  coast  one  eventful  day,  nearly  eighty  years  ago.  The 
governor,  in  the  name  of  the  Khedive,  welcomed  General 
Grant  to  Egypt,  and  offered  him  a  palace  in  Cairo  and  a  special 
steamer  up  the  Nile.  It  is  Oriental  etiquette  to  return  calls  as 
soon  as  possible,  and  accordingly  in  the  afternoon  the  General, 
accompanied  by  his  son,  Commander  Robeson,  Chief-Engineer 
Trilley,  and  Lieutenant  Handy,  of  the  navy,  landed  in  the  offi- 
cial barge.  As  this  was  an  official  visit,  the  "  Vandalia  "  manned 
the  yards  and  fired  twenty-one  guns.  These  salutes  were  re- 
sponded to  by  the  Egyptian  vessels.  A  guard  of  honor  received 
the  General  at  the  palace,  and  the  reception  was  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  Orientals.  We  enter  a  spacious  chamber  and  are 
seated  on  a  cushioned  seat  or  divan,  accordine  to  rank.  The 
pacha — who  has  a  Greek  face,  and  I  presume  is  a  Greek — offers 
the  company  cigarettes.  Then  compliments  are  exchanged,  the 
pacha  saying  how  proud  Egypt  is  to  see  the  illustrious  stranger, 
and  the  General  answering  that  he  anticipates  great  pleasure 
in  visiting  Egypt.  The  pacha  gives  a  signal,  and  servants  enter 
bearing  little  porcelain  cups  about  as  large  as  an  egg,  in  filagree 
cases.  This  is  the  beverage — coffee — or,  as  was  the  case  with 
this  special  pacha,  a  hot  drink  spiced  with  cinnamon.  Then  the 
conversation  continues  with  judicious  pauses,  the  Orientals  being 
slow  in  speech  and  our  General  not  apt  to  diffuse  his  opinions. 
In  about  five  minutes  we  arise  and  file  down  stairs  in  slow,  solemn 
fashion,  servants  and  guards  saluting,  and  the  visit  is  over. 

The  General  and  Mrs.  Grant  went  to  dine,  and  in  the  even- 
ing we  had  a  ball  and  a  dinner  at  the  house  of  our  Vice  Consul, 
Mr.  Salvage  This  was  an  exceedingly  brilliant  entertainment, 
and  interesting  in  one  respect  especially,  because  it  was  here  that 
the  General  met  my  renowned  friend  and  colleague,  Henry  M. 
Stanley,  just  fresh  from  the  African  wilderness.  The  General 
had  heard  of  Stanley  being  in  town,  and  had  charged  me  to  seek 
him  out  and  ask  him  to  come  on  board  and  dine.  My  letter 
missed  Stanley  and  we  met  at  the  consul's.  Stanley  sat  on  the 
right  of  the  General,  and  they  had  a  long  conversation  upon 
African  matters  and  the  practical  results  of  the  work  done  by 
our  intrepid  friend.      The  consul  general  proposed  the  health 


232 


EGYPT  AND    THE  NILE. 


of  General  Grant,  and  Judge  Barringer  proposed  that  of  Mrs. 
Grant,  who,  by  the  way,  was  prevented  by  fatigue  from  coming. 
Then  a  toast  was  proposed  in  honor  of  Stanley,  who  made  a 
grateful  response,  saying  it  was  one  of  the  proudest  moments 
in  his  life  to  find  himself  seated  by  our  guest.  Stanley  looks 
quite  gray  and  somewhat  thinner  than  when  I  saw  him  in  New 
York,  just  before  his  departure,  three  years  ago.     I  gave   him 

all  the  news  I  could  remem- 
ber about  friends  in  New 
York  and  elsewhere.  Next 
morning  Mr.  Farman,  our 
Consul  General,  and  myself 
saw  him  on  board  the  Brin- 
disi  steamer,  which  was  to 
carry  him  to  Europe — to  new 
honors  and  the  enjoyment  of 
a  well-earned  and  enviable 
renown.  The  entertainment 
at  Mr.  Salvago's  at  an  end, 
we  returned  on  board.  The 
next  day  was  Sunday.  The 
General,  accompanied  by  the 
writer,  landed,  meaning  to 
stroll  about  the  town.  Walk- 
ing is  one  of  the  General's 
favorite  occupations,  and  he  never  sees  a  town  until  he  has 
gone  ashore  and  lost  himself.  His  eye  for  topography  is  re- 
markable ;  but  that  is  a  military  quality  after  all,  and  in  Alex- 
andria, one  of  the  most  huddled-up  and  bewildering  towns,  he 
had  a  fine  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  his  skill.  Then  there 
was  an  informal  luncheon,  as  became  the  Sabbath,  with  Mr. 
Gibbs,  the  director  of  the  telegraph  ;  Commander  Robeson  and 
Lieutenant-Commander  Caldwell  forming  the  other  members 
of  the  party.  The  event  of  Monday,  January  7th,  was  that  we 
formed  a  group  on  the  quarterdeck  and  had  our  photographs 
taken,  the  General  and  family  in  the  center,  and  around  them 
the  wardroom,  steerage,  and  warrant  officers  of  the  "  Vandalia." 


..^Lr^i 


CAIRO.  2,., 

This  event  closed  our  life  on  the  "  Vandalia"  for  a  month  at 
least.  It  was  only  au  revoir  and  not  good-by,  but  there  was 
just  enough  of  the  feeling  of  parting  to  give  a  tinge  of  sadness 
to  the  mass  of  trunks  and  bundles  which  the  sailors,  under 
the  orders  of  the  Marquis,  were  arranging  on  deck.  We  were 
to  do  Cairo  and  the  Nile,  we  were  to  be  gone  three  weeks, 
and  we  were  to  return.  But  the  only  one  of  the  party  who 
really  wanted  to  leave  was  our  noble  friend,  the  Marquis,  whose 
spirits  have  been  steadily  rising  since  he  came  to  land  and  heard 
the  rumor  of  the  Khedive's  hospitality.  As  he  takes  command 
of  the  baggage  and  directs  the  sailors  in  their  handling-  of  it, 
you  see  in  his  eye  the  enthusiasm  of  one  born  to  command  when 
in  his  own  element.  When  he  pushes  off  in  the  tug,  trailing  the 
luggage  in  a  boat  behind  him,  there  is  a  disposition  to  fire  a 
salute,  but  the  regulations  are  not  elastic,  and  the  Marquis  with 
his  important  command  has  only  a  silent  adieu.  We  are  not 
long  in  following  him.  We  have  a  special  train  at  our  com- 
mand, and  the  captain  and  a  group  of  the  officers  are  going  up 
to  attend  the  presentation  to  the  Khedive.  The  governor  of 
the  province,  with  his  retinue,  met  the  General,  and  at  eleven 
the  train,  a  special  one,  started.  Judge  Barringer  and  wife 
were  of  the  company,  and  the  run  to  Cairo  was  made  in  four 
hours.  The  General  studied  the  scenery  closely,  and  noted  the 
resemblance  in  some  portions  to  prairie  land  in  Illinois.  Mrs. 
Grant  was  more  impressed  with  the  poetry  of  the  scene — with 
the  biblical  associations  that  cluster  about  this  strange  land. 
The  officers  formed  a  merry  company  in  their  compartments, 
while  the  Marquis  was  in  an  advanced  section,  holding  guard 
over  a  lunch  basket.  The  Marquis  is  a  great  admirer  of  the 
Khedive,  and  expresses  himself  earnestly  in  favor  of  a  govern- 
ment which  welcomes  its  guests  to  a  palace.  He  takes  no  in- 
terest in  the  ruins,  believing  Cairo  to  be  more  interesting  be- 
cause of  the  cafes,  which  remind  him  of  Paris,  than  the  Pyramids, 
which  he  regards  as  entirely  useless.  At  three  o'clock  we  come 
to  Cairo.  There  is  a  guard,  a  carpet  way,  and  a  group  of  of- 
ficers and  civilians.  The  General,  looking  at  the  group,  recog- 
nizes old  friends.     "Why,"  he  says,    "there's  Loring,  whom   I 


234 


EGYPT  A.XD    THE  NILE. 


have  not  seen  for  thirty  years  ;  "  and  "  There's  Stone,  who  must 
have  been  dyeing  his  hair  to  make  it  so  white."  The  cars  stop 
and  General  Stone  enters,  presenting  the  representative  of  the 
Khedive.  This  officer  extends  the  welcome  of  his  highness, 
which  General  Grant  accepts  with  thanks.  General  Loring 
comes  in,  and  receives  a  hearty  greeting  from  his  old  friend  in 
early  days  and  his  enemy  during  the  war.  General  Stone  and 
General    Grant  were  at   West   Point,  and  are   old  friends,  and 


their  meeting  is  quite  enthusiastic.  The  General  asks  General 
Loring  to  ride  with  him,  while  General  Stone  accompanies 
Mrs.  Grant,  and  so  we  drive  off  to  the  Palace  of  Kassr-el- 
Noussa — the  palace  placed  at  General  Grant's  disposal  by 
the  Khedive.  Commander  Robeson  and  Lieutenant  Rush  ac- 
cept the  General's  invitation  to  reside  in  the  palace  while  they 
are  in  Cairo,  and  the  remainder  of  the  party  find  homes  in  the 
hotel. 

The  General   dined  quietly  with  his  family,   and   next  day 
called  on  the  Khedive.      The  hour  fixed   for  the  reception  was 


THE  KHEDIVE. 


'■35 


eleven,  and  a  few  minutes  before  that  hour  the  state  carriages 
called  at  the  palace.  The  General  wore  plain  evening  dress, 
and  was  accompanied  by  the  following  officers :  Commander 
H.  B.  Robeson,  commanding  the  "  Vandalia  ;  "  Joseph  Trilley, 
chief  engineer ;  George  H.  Cooke,  surgeon;  Lieutenant  E.  T. 
Strong,  Lieutenant  J.  W.  Miller,  Paymaster  J.  P.  Loomis  ;  G. 
\Y.  Baird,  engineer ;  H.  L.  Hoskinson,  ensign  ;  B.  F.  Walling 
and  E.  S.  Hotchkin,  midshipmen  ;  E.  R.  Ereeman,  engineer. 
Jesse  R.  Grant  and  Consul-General  Farman  accompanied  the 
General.  We  reached  the  palace  shortly  after  eleven.  There 
was  a  guard  of  honor,  and 
the  officers  of  the  house- 


hold were  ranged  on  the 
stairs.  The  General  en- 
tered and  was  met  by  his 
highness  the  Khedive  at 
the  foot  of  the  stairs.  The 
General,  his  son,  and  Mr. 
Farman  went  into  an  in- 
ner room,  where  the  cere- 
monies of  the  formal  pre- 
sentation took  place.  The 
officers  then  entered  and 
were  received  by  his 
highness,  who  expressed 
his  gratification  at  seeing 
so  many  representatives 
of  the  navy.  This  recep- 
tion lasted  about  half  an 
hour,  the  Khedive  show- 
ing the  General  the  pic- 
tures on  his  walls  painted 
in  commemoration  of  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal.  We  then 
returned  to  the  palace.  We  had  scarcely  entered  when  the  car- 
riage of  the  Khedive  was  announced.  The  General  received 
the  Khedive,  who  was  accompanied  by  his  secretary  for  foreign 
affairs,  and  welcomed  him  in  the  grand  saloon,  where  General 


STREET   IN    CAIRO. 


2.j 5  EGYPT  AND    THE  NILE. 

Grant  also  received  his  highness.  The  officers  of  the  "  Vanda- 
lia"  were  present,  and  their  striking  uniforms,  the  picturesque 
costume  of  the  Khedive  and  his  attendants,  and  the  splen- 
did, stately  decorations  of  the  room  in  which  they  assembled 
made  the  group  imposing.  In  the  course  of  this  conversation 
General  Grant  spoke  of  General  Stone,  now  chief  of  staff  to  the 
Khedive.  He  said  he  had  known  General  Stone  from  boyhood, 
and  did  not  think  he  had  his  superior  in  our  army ;  that  he  was 
a  loyal  and  able  man,  and  he  was  pleased  to  see  him  holding  so 
important  a  command.  The  Khedive  said  he  was  very  much 
pleased  with  General  Stone,  that  he  found  him  a  most  useful  as 
well  as  a  most  able  man,  especially  fitted  to  organize  troops, 
and  had  made  him  a  member  of  his  privy  council.  At  the 
close  of  the  interview  General  Grant  escorted  the  Khedive  to 
his  carriage.  Official  calls  were  then  made  upon  the  two  sons 
of  the  Khedive,  who  at  once  returned  the  calls,  and  so  ended 
our  official  duties. 

Judge  Batcheller,  the  American  member  of  the  International 
Tribunal,  gave  General  and  Mrs.  Grant  a  reception  and  a 
dance,  which  was  a  most  attractive  affair.  The  Khedive  in- 
tended to  give  the  General  a  dinner  and  reception,  but  the  death 
of  the  King  of  Italy  threw  his  court  into  mourning,  and  this  din- 
ner will  take  place  after  our  return  from  the  Nile.  The  Consul 
General,  E.  E.  Farman,  gave  a  dinner  at  the  New  Hotel.  The 
guests  were  General  Grant,  Mrs.  Grant,  Jesse  R.  Grant,  Judge 
and  Mrs.  Barringer,  Judge  and  Mrs.  Batcheller,  M.  Comanos 
and  Mme.  Comanos,  General  Charles  P.  Stone,  Mrs.  Stone  and 
Miss  Stone,  General  Loring,  Colonel  Dye,  Mme.  Colestone, 
Colonel  Graves,  Colonel  Mitchell,  Rev.  Dr.  Lansing  and  Mrs. 
Lansing,  M.  and  Mme.  de  Ortega  Morejon,  Judge  and  Mme. 
Hagens,  Mr.  Tower,  Admiral  Steadman,  Mr.  Van  Dyck  and  Dr. 
George  H.  Cooke  of  the  "Vandalia."  The  members  of  the 
Khedive's  household  and  family  who  were  invited  could  not 
come  because  of  the  mourning  for  the  King  of  Italy.  The  din- 
ner was  worthy  of  the  best  kitchens  in  Paris,  and  gave  the 
guests  a  good  idea  of  the  culinary  resources  of  Egypt.  At  its 
close  toasts  were  drunk  to   the  Khedive  and  President.      Mr. 


THE  EMBARKATION. 


237 


Farman  then  proposed  the  health  of  General  Grant  in  a  felici- 
tous speech.  He  said  we  had  with  us  a  distinguished  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  and  made  a  graceful  reference  to  the  services 
of  the  General.  During  the  darkest  hours  of  our  national  life 
our  guest  had  by  his  own  merits  risen  from  the  modest  posi- 
tion of  colonel  to  command  a  million  of  men.  After  the  war, 
which,  under  the  leadership  of  this  illustrious  chieftain,  had  been 
brought  to  a  successful  close,  a  grateful  people  elected  General 
Grant  to  the  Presidency.  They  believed  that  a  man  who  had 
done  so  much  in  war  would  be  the 
proper  ruler  in  peace.  "They 
were  not  deceived,"  continued  Mr. 
Farman,  amid  hearty  cheering. 
"  He  administered  the  govern- 
ment  so  wisely  that  he  was  re- 
elected by  an  increased  majority. 
He  declined  a  third  nomination, 
and  comes  to  Europe,  and  now 
to  Egypt,  for  rest  and  recreation. 
Coming  as  he  does  from  one  of 
the  youngest  of  nations  to  a  land 
abounding  in  monuments  of  anti- 
quity, we  can  assure  him  of  a 
hearty  welcome."  General  Grant 
said  in  response  that  nothing  in 
his  trip  thus  far  pleased  him  so 
much  as  his  visit  to  Egypt,  and  he 
anticipated  even  more  pleasure  as  he  progressed  in  his  journey. 
Speeches  were  made  by  General  Stone  and  Judge  Batcheller. 
Judge  Hagens,  in  French,  asked  us  to  do  honor  to  Mrs.  Grant. 
This  honor  was  paid  most  loyally.  Dr.  Lansing  would  not 
speak  because  he  had  to  preach  next  day.  After  an  hour  or 
two  of  chat  we  went  home,  feeling  that  our  entertainment  by 
Mr.  Farman  had  been  of  the  most  felicitous  and  successful 
character — feeling  also,  as  General  Grant  remarked  to  the 
writer,  that  America  had  in  Mr".  Farman  a  most  excellent  repre- 
sentative, who  could  not  but  do  honor  to  our  consular  service. 


THE    KHEDIVES   CARRIAGE    RUNNER. 


23$ 


EG  i  FT  AND    THE  NILE. 


On  Wednesday,  the  16th  of  January,  we  embarked  on  the 
Nile.  As  the  hour  of  noon  passed  the  drawbridge  opened, 
farewells  were  said  to  the  many  kind  friends  who  had  gathered 
on  the  banks,  and  we  shot  away  from  our  moorings,  and  out 
into  the  dark  waters  of  the  mighty  and  mysterious  stream. 
One  cannot  resist  the  temptation  of  writing  about  the  Nile,  yet 
what  can  a  writer  say  in  telling  the  old,  old  story  of  a  journey 
through,  these  lands  of  romance  and  fable  !  The  Khedive  has 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  General  one  of  his  steam  vessels, 
and  she  swings  out  into  the  stream  with  the  American  flag  at 
the  fore.  We  have  all  been  in  a  bustle  and  a  hurry  to  get  away. 
There  was  the  leaving  the  palace,  the  massing  of  bundles,  the  com- 
mand of  the  impedimenta.  We 
were  alert  for  the  trip,  and  we 
had  been  feeding  our  imaginations 
with  visions  of  Eastern  life,  with 
visions  of  the  faded  but  glorious 
remnants  of  the  ancient  civiliza- 
tion. Cairo  was  French.  The 
infidel  had  gilded  and  wall-pa- 
pered the  city  of  the  faithful,  and 
it  was  hard  to  realize  that  you 
were  in  an  Oriental  land  where 
everybody  spoke  Italian  a  n  d 
French,  and  Vienna  beer  was 
among  the  principal  articles  of  merchandise.  But  now  we  were 
really  to  throw  behind  us  the  tawdry  French  manners  and  cus- 
toms which  invaded  us  even  in  our  palace,  and  to  go  for  days 
and  days  upon  the  waters  of  the  Nile.  We  read  about  it  in 
guide-books,  all  except  the  writer  of  these  lines,  who  resolved 
that  whatever  his  impressions  might  be  he  would  print  them 
without  incurring  the  mortification  of  seeing  how  well  the  work 
had  been  done  before  him.  We  bought  each  a  Turkish  fez, 
and  some  of  us  ventured  upon  the  luxury  of  an  Indian  hat. 
Others  went  into  colored  spectacles,  and  the  Marquis,  a  far- 
seeing  man,  who  had  been  on  the  Nile  and  who  was  not  in  the 
best  of  spirits  at  leaving  a  palace  to  float  for  weeks  between 


Fr.YPTUN    LADY. 


THE  PARTY.  239 

Arab  villages,  appeared  with  an  astonishing  umbrella.  We 
had  many  friends  to  see  us  off — General  Stone,  Judge  Batch- 
eller,  and  Judge  Barringer,  with  their  wives,  General  Loring, 
and  others.  There  were  radiant  mounds  of  flowers  as  remem- 
brances to  Mrs.  Grant,  and  as  much  leave-taking  as  though  we 
were  bound  from  New  York  to  Liverpool.  Some  one  makes 
this  suggestion,  when  the  observation  is  made  that  we  are  about 
to  undertake  a  journey  as  long  as  from  New  York  to  Liverpool 
and  return.  The  General  sits  in  a  corner  with  Stone  and  Lor- 
ing, talking  about  old  days  in  the  army,  and  making  comments 
upon  famed  and  illustrious  names  that  the  historian  would  wel- 
come if  I  could  only  dare  to  gather  up  the  crumbs  of  this  in- 
teresting conversation.  At  noon  the  signal  for  our  journey  is 
given  and  farewells  are  spoken,  and  we  head  under  full  steam 
for  the  Equator. 

Our  party  is  thus  composed:  We  have  the  General,  his 
wife,  and  his  youngest  son,  Jesse.  About  Jesse  there  has  been 
so  much  said  in  a  satirical  way,  in  some  of  the  journals,  that  I 
am  almost  tempted  to  do  him  justice  by  telling  you  how  manly, 
original,  and  clever  he  is.  But  the  young  man  is  only  a  boy 
after  all,  and  I  hope  he  has  many  years  in  which  to  learn  that 
praise  or  dispraise  are  to  be  heeded  as  the  idle  wind.  The 
Khedive  has  assigned  us  an  officer  of  his  household,  Sami  Bey, 
a  Circassian  gentleman  educated  in  England.  Sami  Bey  is  one 
of  the  heroes  of  our  trip,  and  we  soon  came  to  like  him,  Moslem 
as  he  is,  for  his  quaint,  cordial,  kindly  ways.  I  suppose  we  should 
call  Sami  Bey  the  executive  officer  of  the  expedition,  as  to  him 
all  responsibility  is  given.  We  have  also  with  us,  thanks  to  the 
kindness  of  the  Khedive,  Emile  Brugsch,  one  of  the  directors  ol 
the  Egyptian  Museum.  Mr.  Brugsch  is  a  German,  brother  to 
the  chief  director,  who  has  made  the  antiquities  of  Egypt  a 
study.  Mr.  Brugsch  knows  every  tomb  and  column  in  the  land. 
He  has  lived  for  weeks  in  the  temples  and  ruins,  superintending 
excavations,  copying  inscriptions,  deciphering  hieroglyphics, 
and  his  presence  with  us  is  an  advantage  that  cannot  be  over- 
estimated, for  it  is  given  to  him  to  point  with  his  cane  and  un- 
ravel mystery  after  mystery  of  the  marvels   engraved   on  the 


240 


EGYPT  AND    THE  NILE. 


stones  and  rocks,  while  we  stand  by  in  humble  and  listening 
wonder.  "What  a  blank  our  trip  would  be  without  Brugsch !  " 
said  the  General,  one  day  as  we  were  coming  back  irom  a  ruin — 
a  ruin  as  absolute  and  meaningless  as  the  Aztec  mounds  in  New 
Mexico,  but  which  our  fine  young  friend  had  made  as  luminous  as 
a  page  in  Herodotus.  The  Consul  General,  E.  E.  Farman,  for- 
merly editor  of  The  Western  New-  Yorker,  is  also  of  our  party, 
and  I  have  already  spoken  of  the  pleasant  impression  he  made 


HAVE   A    DONKEV. 


upon  General  Grant  in  Cairo.  The  General  had  so  agreeable 
a  time  with  the  good  boys  of  the  "Vandalia"  that  he  asked 
Commander  Robeson  to  come  and  bring  with  him  as  many  of 
his  officers  as  could  be  spared.  He  was  anxious  to  have  Robe- 
son, and  all  kinds  of  schemes  and  persuasions  were  invented  to 
secure  him.  When  the  gracious  commands  of  the  lady  of  our 
expedition  were  put  upon  him  the  commander  paused,  and  I 
think  for  one  whole  evening  he  had  resolved  to  go  up  the  Nile. 
But  the  morning  came,  and  it  brought  the  cold  fact  that  the 
commander  had  a  ship  to  command,  and  that  it  was  his  duty  to 
command  it,  and  the   Nile  was  in  no  sense  a  navigable  water. 


HASSAN. 


HI 


So  Robeson  gave  up  the  Nile,  and  sent  three  of  his  officers  to 
accept  the  General's  invitation — the  Chief  Surgeon,  George  H. 
Cooke,  Lieutenant  W.  A.  Hadden,  and  Ensign  F.  A.  Wilner — 
who,  with  the  writer  (in  all  ten),  form  the  party  who  make  this 
Nile  excursion.  That  is  to  say,  we  form  that  fragment  of  the 
party  who  live  in  the  main  cabin.  The  consul  general  is  ac- 
companied by  a  kind  of  Arabian  Sancho  Panza  named  Hassan. 
I  am  afraid  it  is  because  the  consul  general  is  tall  and  thin,  and 
Hassan  is  short  and  brown 
and  stout,  that  we  call 
the  latter  Sancho  Panza. 
However,  the  comparison 
comes  from  illustrious  lips, 
and  was  made  one  eve- 
ning when  our  consul 
general  and  Hassan  were 
coming  over  the  plains  of 
Dendoreh,  mounted  on 
donkeys.  Hassan  has 
been  eighteen  years  in  the 
legation.  He  speaks  a 
ready,  expressive,  but 
limited  English  ;  wears  an 
Arabian  costume,  includ- 
ing a  cimeter,  and  is  proud 
of  two  things — first,  that 
he  wears  a  gold  American 
eagle  mounted  on  a  pin, 
with  which  he  was  decorated  by  Consul-General  Butler;  and 
second,  that  he  captured  John  H.  Surratt.  Hassan  is  a  Mos- 
lem, the  husband  of  two  wives,  and  believes  in  Dr.  Lansing, 
the  missionary,  who  educates,  his  children.  No  one  ever  heard 
Hassan  speak  ill  of  a  consul  general.  For  eighteen  years  he 
has  seen  dynasties  rise  and  fall,  from  De  Leon  to  Hale,  from 
Butler  to  Farman,  and  he  has  only  good  words  for  them  all,  living 
and  dead.  Hassan  is  proud  of  his  mission  as  a  member  of  the 
General's  party,  and  walks  the  deck  sabered  and  turbaned  like 
16 


bTREET    IN    CAIRO. 


2a2  EGYPT  AND    THE  NILE. 

Othello.  The  Marquis  makes  no  secret  of  the  fact  that  his  heart 
is  in  our  palace  of  Kassr-el-Noussa.  He  would  gladly  have 
waited  there  until  our  return,  but  I  suppose  it  never  occurred  to 
die  General,  and  so  he  paces  the  deck  with  colored  glasses,  and 
an  umbrella  under  his  arm,  wondering  how  people  can  go  for 
weeks  on  a  boat,  and  ride  donkeys,  and  wander  among  dust- 
heaped  ruins,  when  a  palace  is  in  readiness  and  you  have  only 
to  clap  your  hands  for  slaves  to  answer  your  call. 

Our  boat  is  called  Zinet-el-Bohren,  or  as  my  omniscient 
friend  translates  it,  the  Light  of  Two  Rivers.  It  is  a  long,  nar- 
row steamer,  with  two  cabins,  drawing  only  a  few  feet  of  water, 
with  a  flat-bottomed  keel.  The  Nile  is  a  river  of  sand  and  mud, 
and  as  the  bottom  is  always  changing,  you  must  expect  to  run 
aground  every  little  while  and  to  run  off  again.  This  in  fact 
we  do,  and  the  announcement  that  we  are  aground  makes  about 
as  much  impression  upon  us  as  if  a  passenger  in  a  Broadway 
omnibus  heard  the  wheel  of  his  coach  interlocking  with  another. 
The  Nile  boats  seem  arranged  to  meet  any  emergency  in  the 
way  of  land — for  this  river  is  sprawling,  eccentric,  comprehen- 
sive, without  any  special  channel  —  running  one  way  to-day, 
another  next  day.  To  know  the  river,  therefore,  must  be  some- 
thing like  knowing  the  temper  of  a  whimsical  woman — you  must 
court  and  woo  her  and  wait  upon  her  humors.  Navigation  is  a 
constant  seeking  after  knowledge.  We  have  a  captain  in  a 
comely  uniform,  with  a  clear-cut  Arab  face,  who  stands  in  the 
middle  of  the  boat  and  shouts.  We  have  two  men  with  poles, 
who  lean  over  the  prow  and  sink  their  poles  in  the  water,  and 
shout.  Then  at  the  wheel  we  have  one,  or  perhaps  two  steers- 
men, generally  fine,  grave,  swarthy  fellows,  who  do  not  shout 
much,  but  knowing  the  river's  coquettish  ways,  do  as  they 
please,  unmindful  of  the  shouting.  For  an  hour,  for  two  or 
three  hours,  we  hum  along  with  an  easy,  trembling  motion,  the 
smooth,  shining  river  lapping  our  sides,  and  the  low,  green 
banks  falling  behind  us.  Then  we  have  a  tremor,  a  sidling  to 
one  side,  and  the  engines  stop.  This  was  so  serious  a  business, 
especially  to  our  seafaring  friends,  that  for  the  first  or  second 
time  they  regarded  it  as  a  call  to  quarters  or  a  fire  alarm,  but 


BEDOUIXS.  _., 

we  soon  became  used  to  it,  and  running  aground  hardly  inter- 
rupted the  idlest  conversation.  When  evening  comes  our  cap- 
tain picks  out  the  best  point  that  can  be  found  after  sunset  and 
runs  up  to  the  land.  The  crew  are  sent  ashore  with  torches  and 
hammers,  posts  are  driven  into  the  soft  clay,  and  we  are  tied  to 
the  shore.  There,  as  if  out  of  the  earth  they  come,  we  have  a 
group  of  Bedouins  in  their  turbans,  who  gather  on  the  river 
bank  and  make  a  bonfire  of  dried  sugarcane  or  cornstalks,  and 
keep  watch  over  us  during  the  night.     The  first  night  we  tied 


BEDOl'INS   OVBE 


('.ARCANE    FIRE. 


up,  Mr.  Grant  the  younger  and  the  writer  went  ashore,  seeking 
out  Hassan  to  keep  us  company.  There  was  our  group  of 
crouching  Arabs  over  the  fire,  their  dark  features  lighting  up 
into  a  strange  but  not  unimpressive  kind  of  beauty.  We  had 
been  told — I  believe  all  the  books  written  by  our  English  friends 
tell  us — that  the  only  way  to  extract  courtesy  from  an  Oriental 
is  to  beat  him,  trample  him,  or  at  least  show  him  the  hilt  of 
your  dagger  or  the  muzzle  of  a  pistol.  The  only  daggers  our 
party  possess  are  the  honest  table-knives,  which  some  one   of 


244 


EGYPT  AND    THE  NILE. 


the  many  Mohammed  Alis  in  attendance  on  our  party  is  at  this 
moment  most  likely  scouring.  The  only  pistols  I  can  trace  are 
General  Grant's  and  my  own.  The  General,  however,  left  his 
weapon  in  the  bottom  of  one  of  his  trunks  in  London,  and  mine 
is  looked  upon  as  a  kind  of  infernal  machine,  dangerous  to  no 
one  but  the  owner.  However,  we  treat  our  Arabs  with  civility, 
and  Hassan  supplies  them  with  cigarettes.  They  wish  to  stand 
in  our  honor,  but  we  insist  on  their  taking  all  the  comfort  pos- 
sible out  of  their  modest,  crackling  fire.  They  tell  us  their 
names,  Mohammed  one  thing  and  Mohammed  another.  They 
have  only  one  wife  each,  and  live  in  the  neighboring  village. 
They  have  a  sheik,  and  he  sent  them  hither  to  watch  over  the 
hadji.  Times  are  hard  with  them.  The  Nile  has  been  bad, 
and  when  the  Nile  is  bad  calamity  comes  and  the  people  go 
away  to  other  villages.  We  did  not  like  to  talk  politics  with 
them  because  we  feared  that  Hassan,  who  is  an  admirer  and 
friend  of  the  Khedive,  might  limit  the  tendencies  of  our  inqui- 
ries and  give  only  barren  answers.  They  said,  however,  they 
would  sit  over  us  all  night  and  keep  us  from  harm.  I  have  no 
doubt  they  were  sound  asleep,  burrowed  near  the  cinders,  long 
before  any  one  of  our  party  had  retired,  except  perhaps  the 
Doctor,  whose  habits  are  exemplary,  and  who  sets  us  an  exam- 
ple of  early  hours. 

There  can  be  no  more  interesting,  and,  I  am  afraid,  perilous 
experiment  than  to  put  ten  human  beings  on  a  boat  for  three 
weeks  and  bid  them  enjoy  themselves.  I  looked  around  the 
boat  with  a  little  curiosity  as  we  came  in  and  began  to  adjust 
ourselves  to  the  conditions  of  our  trip.  There  are  two  things 
that  try  friendship — getting  married  and  traveling  together. 
You  have  to  dovetail,  to  make  and  receive  compromises. 
Questions  of  coffee  and  tea  and  chocolate,  of  breakfast  and 
luncheon,  of  amusement  and  conversation,  enter  into  travel. 
There  is  the  passenger  who  is  never  quite  well,  the  passen- 
ger whose  health  is  a  reflection  upon  others,  the  passenger 
who  worries  about  the  engines  and  the  mails,  the  passenger 
who  cannot  stand  the  sea  cooking,  and  compares  every  dish 
with  a  famous   dinner  he  once  enjoyed  at  Delmonico's.      Then 


LIFE   ON   THE  NILE. 


245 


there  is  the  exasperating  passenger,  who  contradicts  everybody 
and  is  ready  to  wager.  Our  little  party  developed  none  of 
these  eccentricities.  So  far  as  the  daily  and  hourly  rubbing 
together  was  concerned  nothing  came  to  mar  our  harmony. 
We  adjusted  ourselves  to  the  General's  modes  of  life;  and  as 
these  were  of  the  simplest  and  most  considerate  character,  it  in- 
volved no  sacri- 
fice. We  live  in 
acluster  of  small 
rooms  around 
the  cabin.  My 
own  little  room 
has  a  window 
within  a  few 
inches  of  the 
water.  I  have 
only  to  put  out 
my  hand  to  feel 
thecoolingsense 
of  the  stream.  It 
is  a  wonder  how 
much  you  can 
do  with  a  room 
not  much  larger 
than  an  ordi- 
nary sideboard. 
Clothing  and 
books  find  rest 
in  odd  kinds  of 
places.  You 
sleep  with  your 

brushes  and  combs.  In  one  corner  is  a  little  crate  of  Egyp- 
tian crockery  which  the  Marquis  induced  me  to  purchase  at  Siout, 
and  when  I  awake  at  night  I  wonder  how  I  am  ever  to  carry 
[it  over  the  seas.  I  do  not  think  that  the  purchase  was  a 
useful  one,  but  it  did  not  cost  much,  and  as  everybody  seems  to 
be  going  mad  on  crockery,  I  may  make  a  reputation  as  aconnois- 


246 


EGYPT  AND    THE  NILE. 


seur  of  Egyptian  art  at  a  small  expense  if  only  the  crockery 
stands  the  seas.  We  breakfast  whenever  we  please — in  the 
French  fashion.  The  General  is  an  early  or  late  riser,  accord- 
ing as  we  have  an  engraorement  for  the  dav-  If  there  are  ruins 
to  be  seen  in  the  morning  he  is  generally  first  on  the  deck  with 
his  Indian  helmet  swathed  in  silk,  and  as  he  never  waits  we  are 
off  on  military  time.  If  there  are  no  sights  to  be  seen  the 
morning  hours  drift  away.  We  lounge  on  the  deck.  We  go 
amone  the  Arabs  and  see  them  cooking-.  We  lean  over  the 
prow  and  watch  the  sailors  poke  the  Nile  with  long  poles  and 
call  out  the  message  from  its  bed.  Sometimes  a  murderous 
feeling  steals  over  some  of  the  younger  people,  and  they  begin  to 
shoot  at  a  stray  crane  or  pelican.  I  am  afraid  these  shots  do  not 
diminish  the  resources  of  the  Nile,  and  the  General  suggests 
that  the  sportsmen  go  ashore  and  fire  at  the  poor,  patient, 
drudging  camel,  who  pulls  his  heavy-laden  hump  along  the 
bank.  There  are  long  pauses  of  silence,  in  which  the  Gene- 
ral maintains  his  long-conceded  supremacy.  Then  come  little 
ripples  of  real,  useful  conversation,  when  the  General  strikes 
some  theme  connected  with  the  war  or  his  administration. 
Then  one  wishes  that  he  might  gather  up  and  bind  these 
sheaves  of  history.  Or  perhaps  our  friend  Brugsch  opens 
upon  some  theme  connected  with  Egypt.  And  we  sit  in  grate- 
ful silence  while  he  tells  us  of  the  giants  who  reigned  in  the 
old  dynasties,  of  the  gods  they  honored,  of  the  tombs  and 
temples,  of  their  glory  and  their  fall.  I  think  that  we  will  all 
say  that  the  red-letter  hours  of  our  Nile  journey  were  when 
General  Grant  told  us  how  he  met  Lee  at  Appomattox,  or  how 
Sherman  fought  at  Shiloh,  or  when  Brugsch,  in  a  burst,  of  fine 
enthusiasm,  tells  us  of  the  glories  of  the  eighteenth  dynasty,  or 
what  Karnak  must  have  been  in  the  days  of  its  splendors  and 
its  pride.  But  you  must  not  suppose  that  we  have  nothing  but 
serious  talk  in  those  idle  hours  on  the  Nile.  Hadden  sometimes 
insists  that  Sami  Bey  shall  become  a  Christian,  and  offers  to 
have  subscriptions  raised  in  the  churches  at  home  for  his  con- 
version, and  this  generally  superinduces  a  half  serious,  half 
lauehine  conversation,  in  which  our  Moslem  friend  shows  how 


NEWS   FROM  HOME.  2  .  _ 

firmly  he  believes  in  the  Prophet,  and  how  it  is  that  an  accom- 
plished and  widely  traveled  man  of  the  world  may  see  all  the 
virtues  of  faith  in  the  faith  of  Islam. 

Sometimes  a  dahabeeah  sweeps  in  sight,  and  we  rush  for  the 
glasses.  The  dahabeeah  is  an  institution  on  the  Nile,  a  cum- 
brous, quaint  sailing  machine,  with  a  single  bending  spar  like 
the  longest  side  of  a  right-angled  triangle.  The  dahabeeah, 
although  a  boat  with  sailing  qualities,  might  really  be  called  a 
suit  of  floating  apartments.  You  take  your  dahabeeah  for  two 
or  three  months.  You  supply  yourself  with  the  luxuries  of 
Cairo.  You  hire  a  dragoman,  a  crew  of  Arabs.  If  you  like 
books  you  have  your  small  library.  If  you  like  sport  you  have 
your  guns.  You  steal  off  in  the  morning  and  shoot  the  wild 
duck.  You  lounge  and  read.  If  you  have  no  wind  you  lie  in 
the  river  and  watch  the  idle  flapping  of  the  sail  and  the  crowd 
of  black  and  brown  fellahs  howling  for  baksheesh.  You  enjoy 
your  life,  or  you  fancy  you  enjoy  it,  which  is  the  same  thing. 
We  met  several  friends  on  the  way.  The  first  we  overhauled 
was  Mr.  Drexel,  and  he  came  on  board  as  brown  as  Sitting 
Bull,  having  a  glorious  time,  but  not  above  hearing  about  home. 
Then  we  boarded  another,  under  the  impression  that  it  was  an 
American,  and  found  that  we  had  fallen  upon  a  hospitable  Eng- 
lish cousin,  who  had  been  dawdling  about  waiting:  for  the  wind. 
His  first  question  was  as  to  the  health  of  the  Pope,  which  was 
answered  by  telling  of  Victor  Emmanuel's  death.  Then  we 
came  across  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Howland,  enjoying  their  honeymoon 
on  the  Nile,  but  anxious  for  news  from  home.  Home  !  Yes, 
that  is  the  blessed  magic  word  which  all  the  glory  of  the  Orient 
cannot  obscure.  This  witching  life  only  heightens  the  dear 
memories  of  far  America.  I  wonder  if  the  third  month,  or  let 
us  even  say  the  second  month,  does  not  hang  wearily  upon  our 
friends  in  the  dahabeeah.  You  see  we  are  coming  by  steam, 
swift  from  the  living  world,  laden  with  news ;  and  when  our 
friends  ask  with  almost  the  eagerness  of  thirst  for  some  drop 
of  news  from  the  world  behind,  you  wonder  how  time  must 
hang  upon  active  minds  the  third  month  on  the  Nile.  One 
gallant  friend  whom  we  met  near  Keneh  informed  us  that  the 


24S 


EGYPT  AND    THE  NILE. 


principal  amusement  was  betting,  not  on  cards,  but  on  every- 
thing— whether  there  would  be  wind  or  not,  I  suppose  ;  whether 
the  esfcrs  would  come  on  the  table  hard  boiled  or  soft  boiled  ; 
whether  the  oranges  would  be  sweet  or  sour.  You  see  how 
betting  may  become  an  endless  amusement  like  arithmetical 
progression,  and  have  some  idea  of  the  resources  of  the  third 
month    on    the    Nile.     But  we  had    no    complaints — not    one. 

All  the  stories  that  came 
to  us  were  that  our  friends 
were  having  the  best  time, 
the  very  best  time,  never 
such  a  glorious  time. 
Only  that  anxious  thirst- 
ing question  about  news 
from  home ! 

I  suppose  you  will  think 
that  we  are  above  any 
anxieties  about  home,  that 
we  are  an  idle,  cynical 
party,  steaming  against 
wind  and  tide,  steaming 
on  toward  the  Equator. 
Why  should  not  a  very 
tired  Ex-President,  upon 
whose  shoulders  have  de- 
volved vast  burdens,  crave 
the  Lotus  Land,  if  only  for 
a  season,  a  brief  season  ?  Well,  I  think  we  are  enjoying  all  the 
rest  a  winter  season  on  the  Nile  implies,  but  I  find  even  now,  when 
we  are  only  a  few  days  on  our  journey,  that  whenever  the  dusky 
face  of  a  consular  agent  comes  over  the  side  to  salute  the  Gene- 
ral, there  is,  with  some  of  the  party  at  least,  that  thirsty  question 
about  news — not  that  any  news  is  to  be  had  in  these  deserts, 
none  later  than  the  French  invasion  of  Bonaparte,  at  least, 
but  the  instinct  is  alive.  And  when  one  of  us  the  other  even- 
ing in  an  encouraging  mood  ventured  to  dwell  upon  the  calm, 
the  peace,  the  delight  of  this  drifting,  colorless,  undisturbed  ex- 


STREET    IN    CAIRO. 


■J 
< 
X 

W 

X 
h 


NEWS  FROM  HOME. 


249 


istence,  there  was  just  the  faintest  remonstrance,  just  the  faint- 
est moan  about  news  from  home  and  "  letters  "  that  told  how  a 
mother's  heart  was  over  the  seas.  So  it  only  remained  to  point 
to  the  telegraph  poles  staring  at  us  out  of  the  sand,  and  preach 
a  little  about  the  influences  of  civilization  and  the  electric  cur- 
rent that  binds  even  deserts  and  continents,  and  so  on.  I  am 
afraid  the  preaching  was  like  most  performances  of  that  kind — 
based  on  nothing;  for  I  tried  at  the  town  of  Esneh  to  send  a  dis- 


patch to  The  New  York  Herald  announcing  our  visit  to  Thebes. 
There  was  not  much  in  the  dispatch,  but  I  was  anxious  to  have 
the  Herald  print  next  morning  what  I  had  written  amid  the 
ruins  of  Karnak.  I  thought  there  would  be  sentiment  enough 
in  it  for  a  good  Sunday-morning  leader,  and  that  some  of  my 
old  comrades  in  the  council  room  who  were  beating  the  universe 
for  themes  would  thank  me  for  the  hint.  But  the  telegraph  was 
useless  except  for  Government  messages.  "  The  only  thing  you 
can  do,"  says  Sami  Bey,  "is  to  send  your  message  by  mail  to 
Cairo,  and  it  will  go  from  there."     But  as  the  mail  generally 


2r0  EGYPT  AND    THE  NILE. 

goes  on  donkeys  and  we  are  going  by  steam,  and  as  we  should 
probably  reach  Cairo  a  week  or  two  in  advance,  I  concluded  to 
carry  my  dispatch  back  with  me. 

When  the  sun  throws  his  shadow  over  the  desert,  and  the 
white  desert  sands  assume  a  browner  hue,  and  the  plodding 
camels  pass  like  shadows  over  the  horizon  and  pant  with  the 
long  day's  burden,  our  sailors  begin  to  look  out  for  the  shore. 
The  Arab  mariner  loves  the  shore  and  has  no  fancy  for  the 
night.  It  may  be  the  evil  eye,  which  has  a  singular  influence 
in  all  Eastern  deliberations.  It  may  be  that  we  are  not  in  much 
of  a  hurry,  and  the  river  is  not  to  be  depended  upon.  By  the 
time  the  twilight  comes  we  have  reached  a  convenient  place, 
and  our  boat  hugs  up  snugly  beside  the  shore.  Stakes  are 
driven  into  the  soft  clay  banks,  rude  steps  are  cut  in  the  side  if 
it  is  precipitous,  and  very  soon  we  have  the  gray-headed  sheik, 
with  his  followers,  coming  to  watch  over  us.  Then  comes  the 
clatter  of  cooking  and  supper,  the  crew  sitting  around  a  large 
dish  and  helping  themselves  with  their  fingers.  We  have 
two  or  three  devout  Moslems  among  our  crew,  who  go  ashore 
to  pray.  The  steersman,  who  wears  a  turban  and  a  white  flow- 
ing robe,  is  the  pattern  of  piety.  He  takes  his  woolen  mantle 
about  him.  He  steps  down  to  the  brink  and  washes  his  feet, 
his  hands,  and  his  forehead.  Then  he  lays  his  mantle  upon  the 
ground  and  looks  toward  Mecca.  He  stands,  and  holding  his 
hands  in  front,  with  the  finger  tips  touching,  makes  a  low  bow, 
a  stately,  slow  bow,  his  body  bending  almost  into  a  right  angle. 
He  rises  again,  standing  erect,  murmuring  his  prayer — that 
there  is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  his  prophet.  He 
prostrates  himself  on  the  earth,  kisses  it,  and  rising  stands  erect 
again.  The  prostration  takes  place  two  or  three  times;  the 
prayer  is  over;  the  faithful  Moslem  gathers  his  garment  over  his 
shoulders  and  comes  back  to  the  boat  and  supper.  When  our 
dinner  is  over  we  have  coffee  on  the  deck,  where  we  sit  and  talk. 
If  we  are  near  a  village  some  of  the  younger  ones  go  ashore.  In 
a  few  minutes  we  know  by  the  barking  of  the  dogs  that  they  have 
invaded  the  quiet  homes  of  an  Egyptian  community.  Hassan 
generally  goes  along  on  these  expeditions  ;   but  the  precaution 


ARAB  MUSIC.  2  -  , 

has  not  been  of  any  value  thus  far.  The  villages  are  sleepy 
enough  and  the  villagers  are  quiet  as  possible.  The  children 
peer  at  you  through  the  straw,  the  elder  ones  come  clamoring 
for  baksheesh,  and  there  is  sure  to  be  a  blind  old  soul  to  crave 
charity  in  the  house  of  the  most  merciful  God.  You  pass  along 
through  streets  not  more  than  a  few  feet  wide,  with  dogs  in  the 
front  and  rear,  and  dogs  barking  from  the  roofs  of  the  low  mud 
huts  thatched  with  straw.  One  or  two  of  these  expeditions 
generally  satisfies  even  the  most  enterprising  of  our  party  ;  for 
Egyptian  villages  are,  as  far  as  I  have  seen,  about  the  same. 
While  some  of  us  are  ashore  seeking  adventure,  and  the  others 
are  clustered  on  the  deck,  chatting  about  friends  and  home  and 
the  incidents  of  the  day,  our  sailors  gather  in  a  circle  and  we 
have  Arab  music.  I  cannot  claim  any  knowledge  of  music, 
although  many  of  my  most  pleasant  memories  are  associated 
with  its  influence.  This  music  of  the  Arabs  is  a  school  of  its 
own,  which  I  would  defy  even  the  genius  of  Wagner  to  embody. 
I  have  often  thought  that  the  spirit  of  a  people  is  expressed  in 
its  music  as  much  as  in  its  literature  and  laws.  The  music  of 
our  Northern  nations  always  seemed  to  ring  with  the  sense  of 
strength  and  victory.  I  remember  how  the  music  of  the  South- 
ern slaves  was  a  strange  contrast  to  the  fiery  strains  of  their 
masters.  There  was  a  low,  plaintive  key  in  it  that  spoke  of 
sadness,  despair,  degradation  ;  that  was  more  a  moan  and  cry 
than  a  harmony.  I  fancied  I  heard  the  same  plaintive  cry  in 
the  music  of  the  Arabs. 

There  is  one  thing  whose  enjoyment  never  ceases,  at  least 
with  the  writer — the  beauty  of  the  atmosphere  and  the  sky. 
Sleep  with  me  is  so  coy  a  dame,  not  always  to  be  won  by  the 
most  gentle  and  persistent  wooing,  that  I  am  alive  to  all  the  in- 
cidents of  the  vessel.  Before  sunrise  you  hear  the  ropes  released 
from  the  shore  struggling  back  to  the  ship.  You  see  the  torches 
flashing  up  and  down  the  bank,  noting  the  preparations  for  de- 
parture. I  sleep  with  my  cheek  almost  against  the  wide  win- 
dow pane,  almost  on  the  level  of  the  stream,  and  if  I  am  weary 
of  dreaming  or  of  seeking  for  dreams,  I  have  only  to  open  my 
eyes  to  see  the  heavens  in  all  their  glory,  the  stars  and  constel- 


252 


EGYPT  AND    THE  NILE. 


lations — to  see  them  again,  as  it  were,  embossed  on  the  dark- 
brown  river.  You  hear  the  cries  of  the  sailors  at  their  posts, 
and  answering  cries  from  the  shore,  and  the  boat  pulls  herself 
together  like  a  strong  man  gathering  for  a  race,  and  we  are 

away.  You  throw  open  your 
window  and  put  your  hand  in 
the  water,  and  feel  the  current 
play  with  your  fingers  with 
almost  the  old  delight  of  child- 
hood. The  morning  comes 
over  the  sands,  and  you  watch 
the  deep  blue  of  the  night 
melt  into  primrose  and  pearl. 
,  The  brown  sands  of  the  desert 
It  become  pale  again,  and  the 
groves  of  date  palms  become 
palms  in  truth,  and  not  the 
fancies  that  almost  startle  you 
during  the  night.  In  the  early 
morning  it  is  cool,  and  it  is 
noon  before  the  sun  asserts 
his  power,  and  even  then  it  is  not  a  harsh  dominion,  for  we  have 
known  no  hour  as  yet  when  we  could  not  walk  up  and  down  the 
deck  in  our  fall  garments  without  discomfort.  Throughout  the 
day  there  is  that  same  open  sky,  the  same  clear  atmosphere 
which  makes  far-distant  objects  as  near  as  you  find  them  in 
Colorado.  Sometimes  you  see  with  wonder  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  desert  grateful  streams  of  water,  skirted  with  palm  and 
sheltered  by  hills.  This  is  the  mirage — one  of  the  most  frequent 
phenomena  on  the  Nile.  Sometimes  a  battalion  of  clouds 
will  come  from  the  east  and  marshal  themselves  from  horizon 
to  horizon,  and  the  sight  is  rare,  indeed,  and  you  cannot  know, 
you  who  live  in  the  land  of  clouds  and  storm,  what  beauty 
they  conceal.  I  am  thinking  of  one  sunset  which  I  saw.  The 
clouds  had  been  following  us  all  the  afternoon,  throwing  their 
fleecy  canopy  over  the  plains  of  Thebes.  Not  ominous,  black 
clouds,  big  with  rain  and  thunder  and  bringing  awe,  but  litrht, 


■w* 


JESSE    GRANT. 


SUNSET.  253 

trailing  clouds,  hanging  over  the  heavens  like  gossamer. 
There  was  the  desert,  coming  almost  down  to  the  river — 
grudging  the  Nile  even  the  strip  of  green  which  marked  the  line 
of  the  telegraph.  There  was  the  desert — vast,  wide,  barren — 
with  no  vestige  of  life  beyond  a  belated  peasant  driving  his  camel, 
or  a  flock  of  birds  hurrying  as  we  came.  So  the  clouds  were  a 
comfort,  and  we  watched  them  at  their  play,  grateful  for  anything 
that  took  our  thoughts  from  the  scene  of  endless  and  irretriev- 
able desolation.  Then  as  the  sun  went  down  there  came  the 
struggle  between  coming  night  and  the  stern,  burning  majesty 
of  the  eternal  monarch  of  nature.  The  pearls  and  grays  became 
crimson  and  saffron.  The  sun  shot  forth  his  power  in  a  sun- 
burst of  light.  There  were  ridges  of  crimson  and  gold,  lumi- 
nous and  flashing  that  it  might  almost  seem  to  burn  and  hiss 
like  flames  in  the  forge.  Then  came  the  tranquil  blue — blue  of 
every  shade — every  conceivable  tint  of  blue — from  that  which 
Murillo  threw  into  the  eyes  of  the  wonder-stricken  Madonna  in 
the  supreme  moment  of  her  joy,  to  the  deep  violet  blue  which 
tells  of  the  passion,  the  patriotism,  and  the  revenge  of  Judith. 
The  struggle  still  went  on,  but  the  victory  was  not  with  the  sun, 
and  it  only  remained  for  him  to  die  as  became  a  great  king. 
The  palm  grew  dim  in  the  shadows.  The  flaming  tints  of  crim- 
son and  scarlet  and  gold  became  brown  and  black.  The  desert 
flushed  with  purple — with  the  purple  of  wine — and  it  seemed 
as  if  old  Egypt's  kings  spoke  from  the  desert  that  was  once 
their  throne,  proclaiming  their  sovereignty.  All  that  was  left 
was  the  line  of  green  that  had  become  black,  and  the  desert 
that  had  become  black,  and  the  glorious  sky  above,  with  the 
glory  of  conquering  night;  and  about  us  this  land  of  eternal 
summer,  beautiful  even  in  death — beautiful  with  the  beauty  of 
death. 


CHAPTER    IX. 


THE    NILE. 


N  the  morning  of  the  19th  of  January,  that  being  the 
third  day  of  our  journey,  we  came  to  the  town  of 
Siout,  or  Assiout,  as  some  call  it.  We  have  a  vice 
consul  here,  and  tokens  of  our  coming  had  been 
sent,  as  could  be  seen  by  the  flags  which  decorated  the  bank 
and  the  crowd  on  the  shore.  Siout  is  the  capital  of  Upper 
Egypt,  and  is  a  city  of  25,000  inhabitants.  The  city  is  some 
distance  back  from  the  river,  and  grew  into  importance  as  the 
depot  of  much  of  the  caravan  trade  from  Darfour.  Upon  ar- 
riving the  vice  consul  and  his  son  came  on  board  and  were 
presented  to  the  General.  Congratulations  were  exchanged, 
and  we  offered  our  friends  coffee  and  cigars  in  the  true  Oriental 
style.     The  name  of  our  consul  here  is  Wasif  el   Hayat.      He 

254 


SIOUT.  255 

is  a  Syrian  and  a  landed  proprietor.  He  is  a  grave  elderly 
person,  who  speaks  only  Arabic,  but  his  son  had  been  educated 
in  Beyrout,  at  the  mission  schools,  and  knew  English.  We  all 
drove  to  the  town.  It  was  over  parched  fields,  through  a 
country  that  in  more  favorable  years  would  bloom  like  a  gar- 
den. But  the  Nile  is  bad  this  year,  and  a  bad  Nile  is  a  calamity 
second  only  to  a  famine  in  Egypt.  We  rode  into  the  town 
and  through  the  bazaars.  All  the  town  seemed  to  know  of  our 
coming,  for  wherever  we  went  crowds  swarmed  around  us,  and 
we  had  to  force  our  donkeys  through  masses  of  Arabs  and 
Egyptians  of  all  ages  and  conditions,  some  almost  naked — 
crowds  crying  for  baksheesh  or  pressing  articles  of  merchandise 
upon  us.  The  bazaars  are  narrow  covered  ways,  covered  with 
matting  or  loose  boards,  enough  to  break  the  force  of  the  sun. 
The  stores  are  little  cubbyholes  of  rooms,  in  front  of  which  the 
trader  sits  and  calls  upon  you  to  buy.  As  these  avenues  are 
not  more  than  six  feet  wide  at  best,  you  can  imagine  what  a 
time  we  had  in  making  our  progress.  The  town  had  some  fine 
houses  and  mosques,  but  in  the  main  it  was  like  all  towns  in 
Upper  Egypt,  a  collection  of  mud  hovels.  We  rode  beyond 
the  town  to  the  tombs  built  in  the  sand,  and  climbed  the  lime- 
stone rock  on  our  donkeys.  This  was  our  first  evidence  of  the 
manner  of  sepulture  in  the  olden  time.  These  desert  rocks  of 
limestone  were  tunneled  and  made  into  rooms,  and  here  the 
mummied  dead  found  rest.  The  chambers  appointed  for  them 
were  large  and  spacious,  according  to  the  means  of  the  deceased. 
In  some  that  we  entered  there  was  a  chamber,  an  antecham- 
ber, and  sometimes  connecting  chambers.  There  were  inscrip- 
tions on  the  walls,  but  they  had  been  defaced.  The  early 
Christians  had  deemed  it  their  duty  to  obey  the  first  command- 
ment by  removing  the  representatives  of  the  gods  that  came  in 
their  way.  The  ceilings  of  the  tombs  had  been  once  decorated, 
but  modern  Christians  have  deemed  it  their  duty  to  deface 
them  by  firing  pistol  shots.  When  you  visit  a  tomb  and 
note  the  blue  stars  and  astronomical  forms  that  the  ancients 
painted  with  so  much  care,  it  is  so  cunning  to  try  the  echo  by 
firing  your  pistol.      Consequently  the   roofs  are   spotted   with 


256 


THE  NILE. 


bullet  marks.  Here  also  came  the  wanderers  for  shelter,  and 
you  see  what  the  fires  have  done.  What  the  tombs  may  have 
been  in  the  past,  when  they  came  fresh  from  pious,  loving 
hands,  you  can  imagine.  But  what  with  ancient  Christian 
iconoclasts,  modern  Christian  wanderers,  Bedouins,  Arabs, 
selling  the  graves  for  ornaments,  nothing  remains  but  empty 
limestone  rooms  filling  with  sand  and  a  few  hieroglyphic  me- 
morials on  the  walls. 


«K*f 


We  were  bidden  to  an  en- 
tertainment at  the  home  of 
Wasif  el  Hayat,  and,  seven 
being  the  hour,  we  set  forth. 
We  were  all  anxious  about 
our  first  Arab  entertainment, 
and  after  some  deliberation 
our  naval  men  concluded  to  wear  their  uniforms.  The  Doctor 
rode  ahead  in  the  carriage  with  General  and  Mrs.  Grant  and 
the  consul  general.  As  the  Doctor  wore  his  uniform  and 
the  others  were  in  plain  dress,  he  was  welcomed  by  the  awe- 
stricken    Moslems    as    the    Kins?    of    America.       Hadden    and 


the  rest    of   us   rode  behind    on    our  trusty   and   well-beloved 
donkeys,  Hadden   in  uniform,  followed  by  wondering-  crowds. 
I   suppose  he  was  taken   for  a  minor  potentate,  as  in  the  Ori- 
ental eyes  all  that  lace  and  gold  could  not  be  wasted  on  any- 
thing less  than   princely  rank.      But   we  all   had  more   or  less 
attention,  although  we  could   feel  that  the  uniforms  were   the 
center  of  glory,  and  that  we  shone  with  borrowed  splendor.      As 
we  came  to  the  house  of  Wasif  el  Hayat  we  found  a  real  trans- 
formation scene.    Lanterns  lined  the  street,  servants  stood  on  the 
road  holding  blazing  torches,  a  transparency  was  over  the  gate 
with  the  words,  "  Welcome  General  Grant."     The  "  n"  was 
turned  upside  down,  but  that   made  no  difference,  for  the  wel- 
come here  in  far  Africa  made  the  heart  throb  quicker.      As  we 
rode  up  torches  blazed,  rockets   went  up   into  the  air,  various 
colored  lights  were  burned,  and  we  passed  into  the  court-yard 
glowing  with  light  and  color,  passing  into  the  house  over  carpets 
and  rugs  of  heavy  texture  and  gorgeous  pattern.     Our  host  met 
us  at  the  gates  of  his  house,  and  welcomed  us  in  the  stately  Ori- 
ental way,  kissing  the   General's  hand  as  he  clasped  it  in  his 
two  hands,  and  then   touching  his  own  heart,   lips,  and  brow. 
Here  we  met  the  governor,  and,  more  welcome  still,  the   Rev. 
I.  R.  Alexander  and  his  wife.      Mr.  Alexander  is   one   of   the 
professors  in  the  missionary  college,  and  is  under  the  direction 
of  the  United  Presbyterian   Church.      The  dinner  came,  and  it 
was   regal  in   its  profusion  and  splendor.      I   should   say  there 
were  at  least   twenty   courses,   all   well  served.      When   it  was 
concluded  the  son   of  the  host   arose,  and  in   remarkably  clear 
and  correct  English  proposed  the   General's  health.      You  will 
allow  me,  I   am  sure,  to    give  you  a  fragment   of  this  speech. 
"  Long  have  we  heard  and  wondered,"  said  the  speaker,  "  at 
the  strange  progress  which  America  has  made  during  this  past 
century,  by  which  she  has  taken  the  first  position  among  the 
most  widely  civilized  nations.      She  has  so  quickly  improved  in 
sciences,  morals,  and  arts,  that  the  world  stands  amazed  at  this 
extraordinary  progress  which  surpasses  the  swiftness  of  light- 
ning.     It  is  to   the  hard  work  of  her  great  and  wise  men  that 
all  this  advance  is  imputed,  those  who  have  shown  to  the  world 
17 


258 


THE  NILE. 


what  wise,  courageous,  patriotic  men  can  do.  Let  all  the  world 
look  to  America  and  follow  her  example — that  nation  which  has 
taken  as  the  basis  of  her  laws  and  the  object  of  her  undertak- 
ings to  maintain  freedom  and  equality  among  her  own  people 
and  secure  them  for  others,  avoiding  all  ambitious  schemes 
which  would  draw  her  into  bloody  ancLdisastrous  wars,  and  try- 
ing by  all  means  to  maintain  peace  internally  and  externally. 
The  only  two  great  wars  upon  which  she  has  engaged  were  en- 
tered upon  for  pure  and  just  purposes — the  first  for  releasing 
herself  from  the  English  yoke  and  erecting  her  independence, 
and  the  other  for  stopping  slavery  and  strengthening  the  union 
of  the  States  ;  and  well  we  know  that  it  was  mainly  under  God 
due  to  the  talent,  courage,  and  wisdom  of  his  excellency  Gene- 
ral Grant  that  the  latter  of  the  two  enterprises  was  brought  to 
a  successful  issue."  The  speech  closed  by  a  tribute  to  the 
General  and  the  Khedive.  General  Grant  said  in  response 
that  nothing  in  his  whole  trip  had  so  impressed  him  as  this  un- 
expected, this  generous  welcome  in  the  heart  of  Egypt.  He 
had  anticipated  great  pleasure  in  his  visit  to  Egypt,  and  the 

anticipation  h  a  d 
been  more  than  re- 
alized. He  thanked 
his  host,  and  espe- 
cially the  young 
m a  n  w  ho  had 
spoken  of  him  with 
so  high  praise,  for 
their  reception. 
The  dinner  dis- 
solved into  coffee, 
conversation  a  n  d 
cigars.  Mrs. 
Grant  had  a  long 
talk  with  Mrs.  Alexander  about  home — Mrs.  Alexander  being 
a  fair  young  bride  who  had  come  out  from  America  to  cast  her 
lot  with  her  husband  in  the  unpromising  vineyard  of  Siout. 
And  when  the  evening  grew  on  we  rode   back   to  our  boat, 


DK1VE    IN   SIOUT. 


GIRGEL.  ,-„ 

through  the  night  and  over  the  plain.  Torch-bearers  accompa- 
nied us  through  the  town.  Donkey-boys  and  townspeople  fol- 
lowed us  to  the  river  bank.  The  moon  was  shining,  and  as  we 
rode  home — you  see  we  already  call  the  boat  our  home — we 
talked  over  the  pleasant  surprise  we  had  found  in  Siout  and 
of  its  many  strange  phases  of  Oriental  life. 

On  the  21st  of  January  we  hauled  up  to  the  bank  in  the 
town  of  Girgel.  We  found  Admiral  Steadman  and  Mr.  Davis, 
of  Boston,  moored  in  their  dahabeeah,  and  they  repeated  the 
same  story  that  we  heard  all  along  the  Nile,  that  they  had  had 
a  good  time,  a  splendid  time,  could  not  have  had  a  better  time. 
It  seems  that  their  dahabeeah  had  run  aground,  and  the  admiral 
came  out  in  fine  old  quarterdeck  form  and  gave  all  the  orders 
necessary  to  save  the  vessel.  But  after  he  had  given  the  orders 
as  became  a  veteran  sailor  who  had  battled  with  tempests  in 
every  part  of  the  world,  it  was  discovered  that  the  crew  were 
Arabs,  and  did  not  understand  a  word  of  English,  and  probably 
thought  that  the  admiral's  vigorous  forms  of  speech  were  a  kind 
of  devotion — a  manner  of  worshiping  common  only  to  the  infidel. 
So  the  admiral's  vessel  had  to  save  itself,  and  we  had  our  own 
fun  out  of  the  narrative  as  we  sat  on  the  deck  over  our  coffee, 
and  watched  the  Arabs  crouching  over  the  fire.  The  admiral 
and  Mr.  Davis  spent  a  part  of  the  evening  with  us  ;  but  just  as 
the  talk  was  in  full  tide  the  dragoman  came  on  board  with  word 
that  there  was  a  rising  wind.  Those  who  sail  in  the  daha- 
beeah must  take  the  wind  when  it  comes,  and  so  our  welcome 
guests  hurried  away,  and  in  a  few  minutes  were  speeding  up  the 
stream. 

It  was  rather  a  long  distance  from  our  landing  place  to 
Abydos,  and  Sami  Bey  had  given  orders  that  we  should  be 
ready  at  eight  for  our  journey.  I  am  afraid  it  was  quite  an 
effort  for  some  of  the  party,  whose  names  shall  be  withheld,  to 
heed  this  command.  But  the  General  was  first  on  deck,  and 
very  soon  came  Mrs.  Grant  eager  and  smiling.  And  as  the 
General  waits  for  no  one,  those  who  were  late  had  to  hurry  their 
breakfasts,  and  some  of  them  were  skurrying  up  the  side  of  the 
bank   with  a  half-eaten   biscuit.      There   were   our   Arabs  and 


26o  THE  XILE. 

donkeys  all  waiting,  and  the  moment  our  company  began  to 
muster  there  was  a  chorus  of  screams — "  Good  donkey,"  "  Good 
morning,"  "  Baksheesh,"  and  other  limited  forms  of  speech. 
The  donkeys  charged  upon  us  in  a  mass,  each  owner  screaming 
out  the  merits  of  his  animal.  It  was  tmly  by  vigorous  efforts 
on  the  part  of  Hassan  that  we  could  see  and  select  our  animals. 
Hassan  had  given  me  a  private  bit  of  information  as  to  which 
donkey  I  should  select,  and  I  found  myself  the  master  of  a  little 
mite  of  a  creature,  scarcely  high  enough  to  keep  my  feet  from 
the  ground,  but  vigorous  and  strong,  and  disposed  to  stop  and 
bray  for  the  amusement  of  the  company.  Hadden's  experience 
with  donkeys  had  made  him  circumspect,  and  the  General  ad- 
vised him  to  select  as  small  an  animal  as  possible,  or,  as  a  pre- 
cautionary measure,  to  the  end  that  a  valuable  life  should  be 
saved  to  the  navy,  that  he  should  tie  himself  on  its  back.  The 
General  himself  had  a  horse  placed  at  his  disposal  by  the  pacha 
who  rules  the  district,  but  he  rode  the  animal  with  a  protest,  as 
it  had  a  shambling  gait,  and  wished  that  courtesy  to  his  host 
did  not  prevent  his  taking  a  donkey.  The  Marquis  had  some 
difficulty  in  pleasing  himself,  and  when  at  last  he  set  out  with 
an  umbrella  under  his  arm  and  his  eyes  shaded  with  somber 
spectacles,  the  suggestion  was  made  that  he  was  a  Methodist 
colporteur  on  a  journey  of  preaching.  But  there  was  a  gleam  of 
satisfaction  in  his  noble  face  as  he  informed  us  that  a  couple  of 
camels  had  gone  up  from  the  town  laden  with  refreshments, 
and  that  we  should  have  breakfast  in  the  temple.  As  I  have 
already  hinted,  the  Marquis  has  no  enthusiasm  for  ruins,  es- 
pecially Egyptian  ruins,  while  he  has  positive  and  valuable 
views  about  breakfast.  So  in  time  we  were  off  over  the  coun- 
try for  Abydos.  The  fields  were  cracked,  and  the  ditches, 
which  in  good  times  would  carry  irrigating  streams,  were  dry. 
Each  of  us  had  two  Arabs  for  an  escort,  and  the  duty  of 
these  attendants  seemed  to  be  to  encourage  the  beast  by  a 
sound  something  between  a  whisper  and  a  hiss,  or  shouting 
or  beatino-  him.  I  rather  think  the  beating  did  not  amount  to 
much,  for  these  people  love  their  animals  and  live  with  them, 
and  make  them  companions  and  friends.      But  the  lady  of  our 


.11:  YD  OS. 


261 


expedition  would  not  endure  the  stick,  and  we  were  halted,  and 
Hassan  was  summoned  and  told  to  say  to  the  attendants  that 
they  must  not  beat  the  donkeys  or  they  would  have  no  bak- 
sheesh, not  a  farthing.  There  could  be  no  more  fearful  punish- 
ment than  this,  and  there  was  no  more  beating.  But  the  Arabs 
had  their  satisfaction  in  kneeling  and  running  at  your  side  and 
seeking  a  conversation.  Their  observations  became  monoto- 
nous.  "  Good  donkey," 
"My  name  Mohammed," 
"My  name  Ali,"  "Good 
donkey,"  "Yankee  Doo- 
dle," "Good  morning," 
"Good  donkey."  Others 
came  with  bits  of  scarabei 
and  bits  of  ancient  pot- 
tery, fragments  of  mummy 
lids  and  shreds  of  mummy 
cloth,  to  drive  a  trade.  I 
was  on  the  point  of  mak- 
ing a  moral  observation 
upon  the  character  of  a 
people  who  would  rifle 
the  tombs  of  their  ances- 
tors and  make  merchan- 
dise of  their  bones  and 
grave  -  ornaments,  when 
it  occurred  to  me  that 
these  were  Arabs,  and  de- 
scended, not  from  the 
Egyptians,  but  from  the 
men  who  conquered  the 
Egyptians  and  occupied  their  land.  I  hope  it  is  not  against 
the  laws  of  war  for  a  conquering  race  to  sell  the  bones  of 
those  they  have  defeated,  for  our  Arabs  were  so  poor  and 
wretched  that  no  one  could  grudge  them  any  means  of 
earning  a  piaster.  This  running  trade  continues  all  the  way, 
and  in  time  you  become  used  to  it.      You  become  used  to  the 


MAP    OF    EGYPT    AND   THE    HOLY    LAND. 


262  THE  NILE. 

noises,  the  conversation,  the  entreaties  to  buy,  and  ride  on  un- 
conscious, or,  if  anything,  amused  with  your  Arab,  who  is  gene- 
rally an  amusing,  good-natured  scamp,  of  wonderful  endurance, 
and  anxious  to  please.  I  became  quite  friendly  with  my  Mo- 
hammed Ali,  who  had  two  English  phrases  with  which  he  con- 
stantly plied  me — "I  am  serene," and  "  Yankee  Doodle."  The 
latter  phrase  was  the  name  of  his  donkey,  and  I  was  about  to 
thank  him  for  this  kind  recognition  of  my  country  when  Hassan, 
from  whom  I  draw  great  stores  of  information,  told  me  that  they 
had  a  variety  of  names — English,  French,  German,  Italian — 
which  they  used  according  to  the  nationality  of  their  riders.  I 
had  no  doubt  that  my  present  plodding  Yankee  Doodle  had 
done  duty  as  Bismarck,  MacMahon,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

Our  journey  was  through  a  country  that  in  a  better  time 
must  have  been  a  garden  ;  but  the  Nile  not  having  risen  this 
year  all  is  parched  and  barren.  Abydos  was  built  on  the  edge 
of  the  Libyan  Desert,  and  the  road  to  the  great  oasis  leads  to 
it  over  the  mountains.  The  old  Egyptians  were  practical  in 
this  respect,  that  not  having  land  to  spare  they  built  their  tombs 
and  temples  in  the  sand,  and  kept  their  narrow,  fertile  lands  for 
corn.  They  could  worship  their  gods  in  the  sand,  they  could 
sleep  in  the  sand  ;  but  corn  and  onions  needed  all  the  parsimo- 
nious Nile  would  give.  We  kept  on  over  a  series  of  irrigating 
ditches,  over  sandhills,  over  roads  that  had  not  been  mended 
within  the  memory  of  man.  My  first  impression  was  to  hold 
my  animal  well  in  hand  and  guide  him,  keep  from  going  over 
his  head  into  a  ditch,  and  show  him  the  safest  paths.  But  I 
soon  learned  the  elementary  lesson  in  donkey  riding — namely, 
that  your  animal  knows  more  about  the  subject  than  you  can 
teach  him,  and  that  you  had  better  discharge  your  mind  from 
all  care  and  allow  him  to  go  in  his  own  way  wherever  Mo- 
hammed Ali  will  lead  him.  Then  if  you  can  make  up  your 
mind  to  disengage  your  feet  from  the  stirrups  and  let  them 
swing,  just  as  when  a  boy  you  used  to  swing  over  a  gate,  you 
will  find  it  easier  in  the  long  run.  I  noticed  that  those  of  our 
party  who  had  the  most  experience  of  Egypt  rode  in  this 
fashion,  and  so,  while  some  of  our  ambitious  members  who  had 


ABYDOS. 


20: 


learned  horsemanship  in  the  best  schools  and  loved  to  brace 
themselves  in  the  saddle  were  anxious  about  stirrups,  I  allowed 
myself  to  dangle.  There  is  another  reason  for  this,  as  I  learned 
from  practical  experience  one  clay  at  Assouan.  The  donkey  is 
apt  to  fall,  for  the  land  is  full  of  holes  and  traps.  To  fall  with 
your  feet  in  the  stirrups  might  be  a  serious  matter.  But  when 
Yankee  Doodle  took  it  into  his  head  to  throw  his  head  upon 
the  around  and  his  heels  into 
the  air,  it  only  remained  for 
me  to  walk  from  him,  as 
though  I  had  risen  from  a 
chair,  and  wait  until  he  came 
to  a  better  frame  of  mind. 
But  it  is  not  the  donkey  that 
troubles  you,  for  the  beast  is 
as  good  as  a  patient,  willing 
wife,  but  the  sun  that  blazes 
overhead.  This,  you  must 
remember,  is  the  land  of  the 
Sun,  where  his  majesty  never 
abdicates.  It  may  be  cool  in 
the  evening  and  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  you  will  find  heavy 
coats  a  comfort.  But  with  the 
noon  he  comes  in  his  power,  and  you  ride  over  the  desert  with 
his  full  force  upon  your  brow.  In  the  matter  of  head-dress  we 
had  various  plans.  The  Doctor  kept  his  stiff  wide-awake.  Jesse 
Grant  wore  a  light  peaked  straw  hat,  swathed  in  silk.  The 
others  of  us  wore  white  pointed  helmets  made  of  pith  or  cork, 
coming  over  the  eyes  and  over  the  neck.  My  helmet  was  a 
burden  to  me  when  first  I  wore  it,  and  I  took  a  hint  from  Sami 
Bey,  remembering  that  was  his  land  and  he  knew  how  to  battle 
with  the  sun.  By  the  aid  of  the  Marquis  I  obtained  a  coiffe  de 
chapeau  of  heavy  silk,  orange  and  green,  about  a  yard  or  more 
square.  This  I  bound  over  my  Turkish  fez  so  that  it  would 
drape  my  face  and  fall  over  the  shoulders.  So  when  the  sun 
came  I  had  only  to  draw  the  web  over  my  brow  and  throw  the 


EGYPTIAN    BOY. 


264 


THE  NILE. 


of  the  sun  was  set   at  naught. 


folds  over  my  shoulders  and  ride  on.  Although  much  heavier 
than  any  ordinary  hat,  and  apparently  oppressive  from  its  texture 
and  the  lapping  folds,  there   was   no   discomfort.     The  power 

Whatever  breeze  might  be  stir- 
ring was  sure  to  creep  into  the 
folds  and  toy  with  my  cheeks. 
Then  there  was  an  artistic 
sense  to  satisfy.  It  lit  up 
the  landscape.  You  could  be 
seen  from  afar,  and  as  the 
dress  was  that  of  a  high  Be- 
douin chief — of  an  Arab  of- 
ficer of  rank — you  knew  that 
you  were  more  than  a  pilgrim  ; 
that  you  were  the  symbol  of 
authority  to  wandering  desert 
eyes  far  away,  who  saw  your 
flaming  head-dress  streaming 
over  the  sand  and  honored 
you  as  a  great  pacha. 

"  Here,"  said  Brugsch,  as 
we  dismounted  from  our  donkeys  and  followed  him  into  the 
ruins  of  the  temple,  "  here  we  should  all  take  off  our  hats,  for 
here  is  the  cradle,  the  fountain  head  of  all  the  civilization  of 
the  world."  This  was  a  startling  statement,  but  Brugsch  is  a 
serious  gentleman  and  does  not  make  extravagant  speeches. 
Then  he  told  us  about  Abydos,  which  lay  around  us  in  ruins. 
This  was  the  oldest  city  in  Egypt.  It  went  back  to  Menes, 
the  first  of  the  Egyptian  kings,  who,  according  to  Brugsch, 
reigned  4,500  years  before  Christ — centuries  before  Abraham 
came  to  Egypt.  It  is  hard  to  dispute  a  fact  like  this,  and 
one  of  the  party  ventured  to  ask  whether  the  civilization  of 
China  and  India  did  not  antedate,  or  claim  to  antedate, 
even  Abydos.  To  be  sure  it  did,  but  in  China  and  India 
you  have  traditions  ;  here  are  monuments.  Here,  under  the 
sands  that  we  are  crunching  with  our  feet,  here  first  flowed 
forth  that  civilization  which  has  streamed  over  the  world.      He- 


A  B  YD  OS. 


265 


brew,  Indian,  Etruscan,  Persian,  Roman,  Greek,  Christian- 
whatever  form  you  give  it,  whatever  shape  it  takes — this  is  the 
fountain  of  it  all.  Stanley  had  been  telling  me  a  few  days  ago, 
as  we  sat  at  breakfast  at  Alexandria,  of  the  emotions  he  felt 
when  he  came  to  the  sources  of  the  Nile,  where  a  trickling  of 
water  that  you  might  arrest  and  imprison  within  the  goblet's 
brim,  set  out  on  its  mighty  journey  to  the  sea.  I  recalled  the 
enthusiasm  of  my  illustrious  and  intrepid  friend  as  I  thought  that 
here  was  the  source  of  another  Nile  that  had  been  flowing  for 
ages,  that  had  enriched  the  world  even  as  the  river  enriches  these 
plains  with  all  the  arts  and  civilization  and  religion  known  to 
man,  and  that  it  was  flowing  and  still  flowing  with  growing 
volume  and  riches.  You  see  I  am  a  believer.  I  came  to  these 
lands  with  reverence  and  have  faith  in  these  stones.  I  shall 
never  know  much  about  Egypt ;  I  am  afraid  I  shall  never  care 
enough  for  it  to  enter  into  the  controversies  about  time  and 
men  that  adorn  Egyptian  literature.  I  believe  in  the  stones, 
and  here  are  the  stones  on  which  are  written  the  names  of  the 
kings  from  Menes  to  Sethi  I.  Sethi  built  this  temple  some- 
where about  fourteen  hundred  years  before  Christ,  and  like  a 
dutiful  king  he  wrote  the  names  of  his  predecessors,  seventy- 
six  in  all,  beginning  with  Menes.  Here  is  the  stone  which 
Brugsch  reads  as  though  it  were  the  morning  lesson,  reading  as 
one  who  believes.  Here  is  the  very  stone,  beautifully  en- 
graved, and,  thanks  to  the  sand,  kept  all  these  centuries  as 
fresh  as  when  the  sculptor  laid  down  his  chisel.  It  was  only 
found  in  1865,  and  is  perhaps  the  most  valuable  of  the  monu- 
ments, because  it  knits  up  the  unraveled  threads  of  Egyptian 
history  and  gives  you  a  continuous  link  from  this  day  to  a  day 
beyond  that  of  Moses.  You  pass  your  fingers  over  the  stone 
and  note  how  beautiful  and  clear  are  the  lines.  And  as  you 
see  it,  you  see  the  manifest  honesty  of  the  men  who  did  the 
work,  of  the  king  who  told  all  he  knew,  and  of  the  truth  of 
what  was  written.  I  believe  in  the  stone  and  feel,  as  I  said  a 
moment  ago,  a  little  of  the  enthusiasm  of  Stanley  when  he 
stood  at  the  trickling  source  of  the  Nile. 

So  we  follow  Bruesch  out  of  the  chamber  and  from  ruined 


266 


THE  NILE. 


wall  to  wall.  The  ruins  are  on  a  grand  scale.  Abydos  is  a 
temple  which  the  Khedive  is  rescuing  from  the  sand.  The 
city  was  in  its  time  of  considerable  importance,  but  this  was 
ages  ago,  ages  and  ages  ;  so  that  its  glory  was  dead  even  before 
Thebes  began  to  reign.  Thebes  is  an  old  city,  and  yet  I  sup- 
pose, compared  with  Thebes,  Abydos  is  as  much  older  as  one 
of  the  buried  Aztec  towns  in  Central  America  is  older  than 
New  York.  When  the  temple  is  all  dug  out  we  shall  find  it  to 
have  been  a  stupendous  affair ;  but  there  are  other  temples  to 
be  seen  in  better  condition,  and  what  interests  us  at  Abydos 
is  the  city.  Here,  according  to  tradition — a  tradition  which 
Plutarch    partly   confirms — was   buried   the   god   Osiris.      The 

discovery  of  that  tomb 
will  be  an  event  as  im- 
portant in  Egyptology  as 
even  the  discovery  of 
America  by  Columbus  in 
his  day.  In  the  earliest 
times  it  was  believed 
Osiris  was  buried  here. 
To  the  ancient  Egyptians 
the  burial  place  of  that 
god  was  as  sacred  as 
Mecca  is  to  the  Moslems 
or  the  Holy  Sepulcher  to 
the  mediaeval  Christians. 
The  Government  has 
therefore  been  digging  in 
all  directions,  and  we 
started  after  Brugsch  to 
see  the  work.  Mrs. 
Grant  rode  along  on  her 
donkey,  and  the  rest  of 
us  went  in  different  direc- 
tions on  foot.  There  had  been  troubles  in  the  neighborhood 
—riots  arising  out  of  the  bad  Nile  and  taxes.  So  we  had  a 
truard  who  hovered   around   us — one   soldier   whom  we  called, 


THE  GL'AKL)  UVEK  GENERAL  GRANT. 


A  B  YD  OS. 


267 


in  obedience  to  the  law  of  physical  coincidences,  Boss  Tweed 
— keeping  watch  over  the  General.  He  was  a  fat  and  ragged 
fellow,  with  a  jolly  face.  It  was  quite  a  walk  to  the  ruins,  and 
the  walk  was  over  hills  and  ridges  of  burning  sand.  So  the 
Marquis  went  to  the  village  to  see  if  the  camels  had  come 
bearing  the  luncheon — a  subject  that  was  of  more  value  to  his 
practical  mind  than  the  tomb  of  a  dethroned  deity.  It  was  an 
interesting  walk,  to  us  especially,  as  it  was  our  first  real  glimpse 
of  the  desert  and  of  an  ancient  city.  The  General  and  the 
writer  found  themselves  together  climbing  the  highest  of  the 
mounds.  It  was  rather  an  effort  to  keep  our  footing  on  the 
slippery  sand.  Beneath  us  was  one  excavation  forty  or  fifty 
feet  deep.  You  could  see  the  remnants  of  an  old  house  or  old 
tomb ;  millions  of  fragments  of  broken  pottery  all  around. 
You  could  see  the  strata  that  age  after  age  had  heaped  upon 
the  buried  city.  The  desert  had  slowly  been  creeping  over  it, 
and  in  some  of  the  strata  were  marks  of  the  Nile.  For 
years,  for  thousands  of  years,  this  mass,  which  the  workmen 
had  torn  with  their  spades,  had  been  gathering.  The  city  was 
really  a  city  of  tombs.  In  the  ancient  days  the  devout  Egyp- 
tian craved  burial  near  the  tomb  of  Osiris,  and  so  for  centuries 
I  suppose  their  remains  were  brought  to  Abydos  from  all  parts 
of  Egypt.  This  fact  gives  special  value  to  the  excavations, 
as  it  gave  a  special  solemnity  to  our  view.  As  we  stood 
on  the  elevation,  talking  about  Egypt  and  the  impressions 
made  upon  us  by  our  journey,  the  scene  was  very  striking. 
There  was  the  ruined  temple  ;  here  were  the  gaping  excava- 
tions filled  with  bricks  and  pottery.  Here  were  our  party, 
some  gathering  beads  and  skulls  and  stones  ;  others  having  a 
lark  with  Sami  Bey  ;  others  following  Mrs.  Grant  as  a  body 
guard  as  her  donkey  padded  his  way  along  the  slopes.  Be- 
yond, just  beyond,  were  rolling  plains  of  shining  sand — shining, 
burning  sand — and  as  the  shrinking  eye  followed  the  plain  and 
searched  the  hills  there  was  no  sign  of  life  ;  nothing  except 
perhaps  some  careering  hawk  hurrying  to  the  river.  I  have 
seen  no  scene  in  Egypt  more  striking  than  this  view  from  the 
mounds  of  Abydos. 


268 


THE  NILE. 


The  sun  was  beating  with  continued  fierceness,  and  we  kept 
our  way  to  the  cluster  of  trees  and  the  village.  The  Marquis 
with  illuminated  eyes  informed  us  that  the  camels  had  come 
and  the  luncheon  was  ready.  We  sat  around  our  modest  table 
and  feasted — feasted  in  the  temple  sacred  to  the  memory  of 
Osiris,  and  built  by  the  pious  munificence  of  Sethi,  the  king 
who  rests  with  God.  The  walk  had  given  us  an  appetite  and 
put   us   all   in   high   spirits,   and    we   lunched    in    merry   mood. 


DAHABEliAH. 


There  were  toasts  to  the  Khedive,  to  Sami  Bey,  to  the  Gene- 
ral, and  the  invariable  toast  which  comes  from  gracious  womanly 
lips — to  friends  and  dear  ones  at  home.  Then  Brugsch  told  us 
of  Salib,  an  Arabian,  who  had  been  for  twenty  years  working 
at  the  excavations.  He  worked  with  so  much  diligence  that  he 
had  become  entirely  blind,  and  it  was  now  his  only  comfort  to 
wander  about  the  ruins,  direct  the  workmen,  and  perhaps  trace 
with  his  finger  many  a  loved  inscription  that  his  zeal  had 
broueht  to  light.  Salib  lived  near  the  ruin  on  a  pension  al- 
lowed  by  the   Khedive,  and  after  luncheon  we   called  on   him 


SPECULATIONS.  2g 

and  took  our  coffee  in  his  house.  The  coffee  was  served  on 
the  roof,  while  some  of  us,  weary  with  the  sun,  lay  under  the 
shadow  of  the  wall  and  the  date  trees,  and  others  sat  about  the 
court-yard  smoking-,  and  Brugsch,  who  never  misses  his  chance, 
improved  the  shining  hour  to  copy  a  hieroglyphic  inscription. 
After  an  hour's  rest  we  went  back  again  very  much  as  we  came. 
But  the  journey  was  long,  the  road  was  dusty,  and  when  we 
saw  the  flag  flying  from  our  boat  we  were,  some  of  us  at  least, 
a  weary,  very  weary  party.  We  had  ridden  fifteen  miles  on 
donkeys  and  walked  two  or  three  on  the  sand,  and  the  shelter 
and  repose  of  the  cabin  was  grateful  when  at  last  it  came. 

Something  might  be  written  of  the  religion,  the  manners  and 
the  customs  of  the  wonderful  people  who  once  reigned  here, 
and  whose  glory  you  tread  under  foot  in  the  yielding  sand. 
But  has  it  not  all  been  written  by  a  dynasty  of  authors  from 
Herodotus  to  Brugsch  Bey?  There  is  nothing  here  but  the 
dead  world — the  world  which  knows  no  change.  In  Pompeii 
it  was  easy  enough  to  summon  up  the  very  form  and  image  of 
the  world  which  Vesuvius  buried  in  ashes  and  fire.  There  was 
the  town  before  us,  almost  as  it  was  when  Pliny  saw  the  awful 
token  of  its  fate — the  ruts  in  the  street,  the  bread  in  the  oven, 
the  priest  at  the  altar,  the  mother  with  her  child.  But  I  see  in 
Egypt  nothing  but  tombs,  temples,  and  the  shining  sand.  You 
see  these  temples  in  their  glory,  you  marvel  at  their  glory, 
you  think  that  the  men  who  did  these  things  must  have  been 
giants  in  their  clay,  you  cannot  understand  what  mechanical 
force  known  to  the  Egyptians  could  have  transported  the 
Memnon  colossus  from  its  granite  bed  at  Assouan.  But  this  is 
all.  Every  other  form  of  ancient  life  has  vanished.  There  is 
only  one  suit  of  chambers  at  Luxor  where  it  is  believed  a  king 
lived,  and  even  that  is  a  speculation.  Aside  from  that  the  anti- 
quarians have  not  found  a  palace  or  a  home.  What  we  know 
of  the  Egyptians  we  know  from  the  inscriptions  on  the  monu- 
ments. We  know  that  they  must  have  been  a  brave,  domestic, 
patriotic  people,  with  a  religion  and  symbols  of  religion  strik- 
ingly like  Islam  and  Christianity — enough  like  it  at  least  to  fur- 
nish Mr.  Darwin  with  a  new  chapter  in  his  theories  of  evolution. 


'."JO 


THE  NILE. 


It  was  a  religion  based  upon  one  God,  a  god  who  was  an  idea, 
or  a  sentiment,  and  who  was  worshiped  in  silence  ;  such  a  god 
as  commentators  might  find  implied  in  what  Plato  teaches  and 
even  in  St.  John's  Gospel  when  he  says  :  "  In  the  beginning  was 
the  word,  and  the  word  was  with  God,  and  the  word  was  God." 
This  god  was  worshiped,  as  I  said,  in  silence  ;  but  in  time  his  vari- 
ous attributes  became  forms,  and  the  worship  of  these  forms  be- 
came idolatry — that  idolatry  which  the  commandments  especially 


condemned.  You  will  remember  that  those  commandments  be- 
gin with  the  declaration  :  "  I  am  the  Lord,  thy  God,  which  brought 
thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  from  the  house  of  bondage." 
You  will  remember  that  the  commandments  open  with  a  denun- 
ciation of  idolatry — a  denunciation  far  more  severe  than  that 
visited  upon  the  sins  of  murder,  theft,  and  perjury.  "Thou 
shalt  have  none  other  gods  before  me.  Thou  shalt  not  make 
thee  any  graven  image,  or  any  likeness  of  anything  that  is  in 
heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth  beneath,  or  that  is  in  the 
waters  under  the  earth.  Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  thyself  to 
them,  nor  serve  them." 


ANCIENT  FAITH.  -,-, 

This  is  the  commandment,  but  the  fear  of  the  example  of  the 
idol  worship  of  the  Egyptians  was  evidently  so  strong  that  it  is 
coupled  with  a  special  and  terrible  penalty,  one  of  the  most  se- 
vere in  the  Bible.  "  For  I,  the  Lord,  thy  God,  am  a  jealous  God, 
visiting  the  iniquities  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children,  unto  the 
third  and  fourth  generations  of  them  that  hate  me."  The  Egyp- 
tians besjan  their  faith  with  the  recognition  of  one  God.  He 
created  the  earth.  He  was  the  embodiment  of  goodness,  mercy, 
power,  and  wisdom — he  was  almighty  and  everlasting,  like  our 
own  Jehovah.  Each  of  these  attributes  became  a  separate  being, 
and  in  time  a  distinct  god,  until  the  mythology  of  the  Egyp- 
tians had  almost  as  variegated  a  heaven  as  the  Greeks  or  the 
Hindoos.  One  of  these  gods  was  called  Amun,  who  represented 
the  divine  attribute  of  reason.  Another  god  was  Num,  whose 
attribute  is  the  same  as  that  ascribed  to  the  Spirit  of  God,  which 
moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters.  Another  god  was  Pthak,  or 
the  creator,  who,  among  other  things,  especially  created  truth. 
Another  god  was  called  Khem,  or  the  creator  of  man.  His 
companion  god  was  Maut,  the  mother,  and  each  of  these  gods 
proceeded  from  themselves,  something  like  Adam  and  Eve. 
These  attributes  of  divinity  all  in  time  became  tangible  gods, 
and  each  had  his  share  of  worship.  They  became  gods  of 
the  first,  second,  and  third  degrees,  something  like  Christian 
archangels,  angels,  and  saints.  In  the  beginning  I  can  well  see 
how  this  Egyptian  worship  was  the  worship  of  one  God,  and 
that  the  development  of  the  idolatry  system  came  from  care- 
lessness on  the  part  of  priests,  evil  teaching,  ignorance,  or  per- 
haps from  the  innate  tendency  of  our  human  nature  to  venerate 
some  one  object,  and  to  refer  to  it  as  far  as  we  can  the  hopes 
and  dreams  of  our  lives. 

A  soldier  feverish  for  victory,  a  husbandman  mourning  over 
his  barren  fields,  a  mother  despairing  over  her  firstborn,  a  wife 
yearning  for  children,  will,  if  piously  inclined,  turn  to  the  Al- 
mighty and  the  All-seeing  for  help.  They  will  each  seek  out 
that  special  attribute  in  Divinity  most  suited  to  their  wants  and 
invoke  it.  You  have  a  form  of  this  in  modern  Christianity  in 
patron  saints.       If  the  Egyptians  had  recognized  the  principle 


2-2  THE  NILE. 

of  saintship,and  had  kept  that  vast  distinction  which  Christians 
recognize  between  Peter  and  Paul  and  our  Saviour,  I  can  under- 
stand how  it  might  have  become  a  faith  as  lasting  as  that  which 
came  from  the  burning  mountain.  Its  principle  was  a  panthe- 
ism, not  a  polytheism.  But  in  time  the  idolatrous  principle 
prevailed  until  it  corrupted  and  destroyed  the  ancient  faith. 
They  came  to  worship  the  sun  and  moon,  and  to  have  a  special 
recording  angel  deity,  the  Ibis-headed  Thoth,  who  recorded  the 
actions  of  every  man  against  the  last  day.  These  gods  also 
assumed  a  variety  of  names — like  what  we  see  now  when  we 
read  about  Our  Lady  of  Lourdes  and  Our  Lady  of  Maria  Zell. 
I  sis  became  the  goddess  of  ten  thousand  names,  although  each 
name  meant  no  more  than  the  Greeks  meant  when  they  gave 
geographical  attributes  to  Minerva  or  Venus — nor  what  the 
Catholics  mean  when  they  discover  shrines  of  the  Virgin  in 
various  parts  of  Christendom  and  give  each  shrine  a  name. 
The  god  Osiris,  whose  form  we  see  so  frequently  on  these 
temple  walls,  was  the  principle  of  good,  the  god  Typho  the 
principle  of  evil.  These  gods  were  brothers,  one  murdering  tin: 
other,  even  as  Cain  murdered  Abel. 

There  was  another  named  Apophis,  who  was  the  same  as 
our  own  Apollyon  ;  a  great  serpent  also,  enemy  of  gods  and 
men,  and  in  the  Egyptian  mythology  pierced  by  the  spear  of 
the  o-ood  eod  Horus  ;  even  as  in  our  own  we  have  the  great 
dragon,  the  common  enemy  of  mankind,  pierced  by  the  spear  of 
enterprising  and  valiant  archangels.  This  resemblance  between 
Apophis  and  Apollyon  is  not  more  marked  than  certain  traits 
in  the  character  of  the  god  Osiris.  This  god  came  into  the 
world  to  aid  mankind.  He  was  the  symbol  of  goodness  and 
truth.  He  was  put  to  death  and  buried.  He  rose  again,  and 
was  appointed  to  judge  the  world.  His  name  is  the  symbol  of 
the  resurrection  and  eternal  salvation.  He  became  the  supreme 
god  of  the  Egyptians.  On  the  breast  of  the  dead  a  token 
was  placed  carved  in  the  form  of  the  beetle  called  a  scarabeus. 
You  will  find  thousands  of  them  to-day  dug  from  the  ancient 
tombs.  Why  this  insect  was  selected  is  a  puzzle,  but  Brugsch 
says  it  was  because  the  beetle  was  supposed  to  reproduce  itself 


SA  CRED   SENTIMENT. 


■/J 


without  natural  agency,  and  in  that  way  became  the  type  of 
resurrection.  These  scarabei,  which  every  greasy  Arab  carries 
in  his  clothes  and  forces  upon  you  for  sale,  were  mounted  like 
beads.  In  many  cases  they  were  made  of  precious  stones — 
cornelian,  agate,  lapis-lazuli,  emerald,  and  amethyst.  I  have 
seen  some  in  gold.  The  poorer  classes  made  them  of  lime- 
stone, or  of  clay  like  that  used  in  pottery.  On  them  was  en- 
graved a  tribute  to  the 
god  Osiris  and  a  recog- 
nition of  the  thrilling 
mystery  of  eternal  life. 

There  were  forms  of 
gods  expressing  the  holi- 
est offices  of  nature;  and 
according  as  these  offices 
were  regarded  do  we  find 
the  purity  and  impurity 
of  the  old  religion.  We 
have  the  idea  of  paternity 
as  the  life-giving  genera- 
tive principle  ;  we  have 
the  idea  of  maternity  as 
the  principle  of  creation, 
and  each  has  its  god. 
The  god  I  sis  holds  her 
child  Horus,  and  this  be- 
came as  much  a  manifes- 
tation of  the  most  sacred 
form  of  humanity  to  the  Egyptians  as  the  Madonna  and  Child 
are  to  devout  Catholics  to-day.  I  was  struck  with  this  sacred 
sentiment  pervading  the  inscriptions  on  the  tombs  and  temples, 
and,  more  than  all,  I  was  impressed  with  the  peculiar  form  of 
the  emblem  by  which  the  devout  Egyptian  expressed  his  confi- 
dence in  a  future  life.  You  see  it  in  ten  thousand  places,  every- 
where recurring,  everywhere  expressing  the  faith  of  heathens 
in  eternity.  This  emblem  is  a  longitudinal  line,  the  top  formed 
into  an  elliptical  loop,  crossed  by  another  line  about  one  third 


MOONLIGHT   O.N    THE    NILE 


74 


THE  NILE. 


from  the  top.  You  had  only  to  press  the  loop  together  to  re- 
duce it  into  a  single  line  to  have  the  cross — the  very  cross  upon 
which  our  Saviour  suffered,  and  which  is  to-day  the  emblem  of 
Christian  faith  throughout  the  world. 

One  visit  worth  noting  was  made  to  the  town  of  Keneh. 
We  tied  the  steamer  up  to  the  bank  in  our  summary  way,  just 
as  the  wayfaring  horseman  dismounts  and  ties  his  horse  to  a 
tree.  There  is  no  question  of  wharves,  or  quays,  or  permission. 
When  we  tied  we  all  went  ashore  and  picked  out  our  donkeys. 
The  boys  had  seen  our  smoke  far  down  the  river  and  were  there 
to  meet  us.  The  town  was  a  mile  or  so  off,  and  we  rode  over 
the  plain.  It  was  a  sad  sight,  and  Sami  Bey  told  us  what  a 
calamity  this  bad  Nile  meant  to  Egypt.  When  the  Nile  rises 
in  its  season  and  floods  the  fields,  only  departing  when  it  leaves 
the  richness  that  it  brought  all  the  way  from  Central  Africa, 
then  Egypt  is  rich.  The  ground  teems  with  fatness,  and  I 
could  well  believe  Sami  Bey  when  he  told  us  how  he  had  rid- 
den from  the  river  bank  to  the  town  through  fields  of  corn  and 
sugarcane,  through  fields  of  waving,  living,  joyous  green.  To- 
day the  fields  are  parched,  and  brown,  and  cracked.  The  irri- 
gating ditches  are  dry.  You  see  the  stumps  of  the  last  season's 
crop.  But  with  the  exception  of  a  few  clusters  of  the  castor 
bean  and  some  weary,  drooping  date  palms,  the  earth  gives 
forth  no  fruit.  A  gust  of  sand  blows  over  the  plain  and  adds 
to  the  somberness  of  the  scene.  Here  are  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  acres  which,  in  a  good  year,  would  give  generous  crops. 
Now  they  give  nothing,  and  the  people  who  till  them  must  be 
fed.  A  bad  Nile,  therefore,  means  bad  times  for  the  people 
and  bad  times  for  the  government.  For  when  there  are  no 
crops  there  are  no  taxes,  and  even  an  Egyptian  taskmaster  could 
not  force  barren  fields  to  pay  revenue  to  the  Khedive's  trea- 
sury. It  is  safe  to  say  that  a  bad  Nile  costs  Egypt  millions  ol 
dollars.  The  people  must  live  on  last  year's  gain,  and  instead 
of  helping  the  government  must  be  helped  by  the  government. 
When  you  remember  that  the  Khedive  is  under  many  burdens 
— the  burden  of  an  enormous  debt,  the  interest  of  which  is  in 
default  ;  a  burden   of  a   contingent  in   the;  Turkish   army  which 


KEXEH. 


275 


he  must  support,  the  burden  of  the  annual  tribute  to  the  Sultan, 
over  $3,500,000  a  year,  you  can  understand  the  calamity  of  a 
bad  Nile,  and  why  it  is  that  most  of  the  civil  and  military  officers 
are  in  arrears  for  their  salary — some  of  them  for  a  year.  Hap- 
pily such  a  calamity  as  a  bad  Nile  does  not  often  occur.  If  it 
happened  for  two  or  three  continuous  years  a  famine  would  be 
the  result.  If  the  Nile  ceased  its  office  Egypt  would  have  to  be 
abandoned  and  these  fertile  plains  given  over  to  the  desert.     In 


fact  Egypt  is  only  an  annual  struggle  between  the  river  and  the 
desert.  If  ever  the  river  surrenders,  Egypt  will  become  a  bar- 
ren, treeless  plain  of  rocks  and  sand. 

The  sand  was  blowing  heavily  as  we  entered  Keneh.  We 
had  not  been  expected,  so  there  were  no  ceremonies,  and  we 
could  wander  as  we  pleased.  We  dismounted  under  a  grove  of 
trees  and  went  on  foot  into  the  town,  our  donkeys  and  donkey- 
boys  following  after.  We  strolled  through  the  bazaars,  which 
meant  that  we  crowded  our  way  through  narrow,  dusty  passages 
where  the  tradesman  sold  his  wares.     The  assortment  was  not 


2j6  THE  XI LE. 

varied — beads,  grain,  cloths,  dates,  pipes,  and  trinkets.  We  went 
into  one  house,  where  the  potter  was  busy  over  his  wheel.  In 
Keneh  pottery  is  an  industry.  The  clay  makes  a  fragile,  porous 
vessel,  through  which  the  water  evaporates  in  summer,  acting 
as  a  filter  and  a  water-cooler.  These  vessels  are  grateful  in  the 
summer  days,  and  there  is  quite  a  trade  in  them  between  Keneh 
and  Lower  Egypt.  We  had  observed  coming  up  rafts  of  stone 
jars,  bound  together  with  boughs,  floating  down  the  stream, 
very  much  as  the  old  flatboats  used  to  float  down  the  Missis- 
sippi to  New  Orleans,  laden  with  Western  produce.  The  jars 
kept  their  own  buoyancy,  and  one  raft  would  require  not  more 
than  three  or  four  men  to  ply  it.  The  potter  was  very  skillful. 
His  child  moistened  the  clay,  and  with  deft  fingers  he  fashioned 
it  into  form — into  graceful  lines  and  curving  shapes,  showing 
artistic  sense.  The  cheapness  of  the  work  when  done  was 
amazing.  The  retail  price  was  about  eighty  cents  a  hundred 
for  small  jars  useful  for  the  table.  We  went  into  a  mill  where 
the  corn  was  grinding.  It  was  the  same  process  that  we  read 
about  in  the  Bible — the  horse  going  round  and  round,  the  grain 
crushing  between  an  upper  and  nether  stone  and  running  into 
a  pail.  We  went  into  one  of  the  houses  of  the  common  peo- 
ple. Hassan  led  the  way,  and  there  was  evidently  no  intrusion. 
A  morsel  of  baksheesh  would  atone  for  any  invasion  of  do- 
mestic privacy. 

The  house  was  a  collection  of  rooms  ;  the  walls  made  of 
dried  mud  and  bricks.  It  was  one  story  high,  thatched  with 
straw.  The  floor  was  the  ground.  The  walls  were  clay.  In 
one  room  was  the  donkey,  in  another  the  cow — a  queer  kind  of 
buffalo  cow,  that  looked  up  at  us  as  we  went  in.  In  another 
room  slept  the  members  of  the  family.  There  was  neither  bed 
nor  chair  nor  table.  They  slept  on  the  ground  or  on  palm 
leaves,  like  the  donkey.  They  sat  on  the  ground  for  meals  and 
ate  out  of  the  same  dish.  The  woman  was  sitting  over  a  fire 
on  which  she  was  roasting  some  kind  of  grain.  The  children 
were  sprawling  about  her.  The  woman  was  a  Copt  and  not 
doomed  to  Moslem  seclusion.  The  father  stood  at  the  door 
grinning  and  waiting  for  baksheesh.      The  welcome  was    as 


ASSOUAN. 


277 


cordial  as  possible,  but  I  suppose  there  were  not  a  thousand 
slaves  in  the  South  who  were  not  better  housed  than  these  free 
Egyptian  citizens.  Their  life  was  virtually  that  of  a  savage, 
but  they  all  seemed  happy  and  cheerful  enough.  In  this  land 
nature  is  the  friend  of  the  poor.  You  can  sleep  on  the  ground 
nearly  every  night  of  the  year  secure  from  rain.  You  can  array 
yourself  in  the  scantiest  raiment.  You  can  live  on  dates  and 
sugarcane,  and,  as  far  as  the  mere  ailments  that  come  from 
want  and  misery  are  concerned,  they  are  not  known  in  Egypt. 
The  people  are  well  made,  well  formed,  with  unusual  powers  of 
endurance,  and  naturally  bright.  I  would  like  to  see  any  of  our 
laboring  men  at  home  runup  and  down  the  Pyramid  of  Cheops 
in  eight  minutes,  as  I  saw  an  Arab  do  for  a  franc.  And  we 
have  no  damsels  among  our  own 
dear,  tender,  lovely  maidens  at 
home  who  could  run  at  your  don- 
key's side  for  miles  and  miles,  bal- 
ancing a  pitcher  of  water  on  their 
heads  and  showing  no  signs  of 
fatigue. 

We  thought  we  had  the  town 
to  ourselves  to  stroll  and  wander 
where  we  listed,  when  there  came 
one  to  us  in  haste  to  say  that  the 
pacha  who  governed  this  province 
had  heard  of  our  coming  and 
would  like  to  see  us  at  the  palace. 
And  the  General,  who  is  as  patient 
under  the  burdens  of  these  ever- 
coming  ceremonies  as  one  of  the 
laden  camels  we  are  constantly 
passing,  said  he  would  call  on  the  pacha.  We  threaded  our 
way  to  the  palace,  which  was  a  low  brick  building,  like  a  bar- 
racks. The  messenger  evidently  did  not  expect  so  prompt  an 
answer  to  his  summons,  as  we  saw  him  running  ahead  to  tell  his 
lord  that  we  were  coming — coming  almost  on  his  heels.  We 
passed  under  a  grateful  row  of  trees,  through  an  open  space 


EGYPTIAN    MAIDEN. 


278 


THE  NILE. 


where  soldiers  were  lounging  about,  and  into  the  cool,  open 
rooms  of  the  palace.  We  were  shown  into  the  reception 
chamber  and  ranged  on  the  divan.  There  was  a  long  pause. 
The  governor  was  no  doubt  enjoying  a  siesta,  and  had  to  rub 
the  sleep  out  of  his  eyes  or  don  his  uniform.  In  time  he  came, 
a  stout,  pleasant-looking,  gray-mustached  soldier,  in  his  full 
uniform  as  general.  We  had  surprised  him,  of  course,  and  he 
had  to  dress.  He  received  the  General  with  grave  courtesy, 
and  there  was  the  usual  exchange  of  compliments  and  talk 
about  the  weather.  The  General  varied  the  conversation  by 
expressing  his  regret  that  the  bad  Nile  was  on  the  people,  and 
hoping  for  a  good  Nile.  When  this  was  translated,  as  the 
pacha  only  spoke  Arabic,  he  threw  up  his  eyes  with  a  gesture 
of  devotion,  saying,  "  If  God  wills  it,  and  may  He  will  it." 
Then  came  the  coffee  and  the  pipes,  and  we  set  forth.  The 
governor  said  he  would  accompany  us  in  our  walk,  which  he 
did.  He  directed  that  the  state  donkeys  should  be  saddled, 
and  they  came  after  us.  We  then  called  upon  the  German 
consul,  who  waylaid  us  and  begged  that  we  should  honor  his 
house.  This  officer  lived  in  a  style  approaching  splendor,  and 
when  we  were  served  with  pipes  and  coffee  we  noticed  that 
the  pipe  stems  were  of  amber,  garnished  with  diamonds,  and 
the  coffee  cups  were  of  the  finest  porcelain,  in  cases  of  silver 
and  gold.  These  ceremonies  over,  we  came  back  to  the  boat 
through  a  gust  of  sand. 


Id 
X 
H 

Z 
C 


THE    NILE. 


CHAPTER    X. 

the  nile  (continued). 

UR  imaginations  had  been  dwelling  all  these  days  on 
Thebes.  We  read  it  up  and  talked  about  it,  and 
said,  "  When  we  see  Thebes  we  shall  see  one  of  the 
wonders  of  the  world."  We  learned  that  Thebes 
was  once  a  city  that  covered  both  banks  of  the  Nile ;  that  it 
was  known  to  Homer  as  the  City  of  the  Hundred  Gates  ;  that 
it  must  have  had  three  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  and  that 
it  sent  out  twenty  thousand  armed  chariots.  It  was  famed  for 
its  riches  and  splendor  until  it  was  besieged.  There  was  the 
temple  of  Memnon  and  the  colossal  statue  which  used  to  sing 
its  oracles  when  the  sun  rose.  Here  was  to  be  found  the  palace 
temple  of  the  great  Rameses,  the  only  ruin  in  Egypt  known  to 
have  been  the  home  of  a  king.  Here  we  would  see  the  columns 
of  Luxor,  the  twin  obelisk  to  the  one  now  in  Paris,  the  stupen- 
dous ruins  of  Karnak  and  the  tombs  of  the  kings.  Thebes 
alone  would  repay  us  for  our  long  journeyings  ;  and  we  talked 
about  Sesostris  and  the  Pharaohs  in  a  familiar  manner,  as 
though   they  knew   we   were   coming  and  would  be   at   home. 

-79 


280 


THE  XILE. 


And  when  we  became  a  little  hazy  on  our  history  and  could 
not  get  our  kings  exactly  straight,  and  were  not  sure  whether 
Sesostris  was  in  the  nineteenth  or  the  twenty- ninth  dynasty, 
we  always  fell  back  on  Brugsch,  who  knew  all  the  dynasties 
and  was  an  ever-running  spring  of  information,  and  always  as 
gentle  and  willing  as  he  was  learned.  I  am  afraid  we  bothered 
Brugsch  a  good  deal  about  Pharaoh,  and  where  Joseph  lived, 
and  where  Moses  was  found  in  the  bulrushes,  and  whether  there 


IRRIGATING    MACHINE 


were  any  still  growing,  and  at  what  point  of  the  Red  Sea  Pha- 
raoh's host  was  drowned,  with  other  questions  about  the  plague 
and  the  destroying  angel.  You  see,  these  are  the  questions 
which  the  American  mind  with  Sunday-school  ideas  about  the 
past  will  ask  about  Egypt ;  and  it  is  some  time  before  the  truth 
begins  to  dawn  upon  you  that  you  are  walking  among  the  ruins 
of  a  civilization  which  filled  the  world  centuries  before  Moses 
was  born,  and  that  the  rude  stone  beetle  which  the  Arab  insists 
upon  selling  you  was  reverently  placed  upon  the  bosom  of  a 
king  who  reigned  before  Joseph.  It  is  some  time  before  you 
see  the  horizon  beyond  the  shorter-catechism  history,  and  so, 


LUX  OK.  2gj 

I  am  afraid  we  bothered  Brugsch  with  our  Sunday-school  ques- 
tions. By  the  time  we  approached  Thebes  we  were  well  out 
of  that  stage  and  were  well  up  in  our  Rameses,  and  knew  all 
about  Thebes,  the  mighty,  the  magnificent  Thebes,  the  city  of 
a  world's  renown,  of  which  we  had  been  reading  and  dreaming 
all  these  years.  And  as  Brugsch,  leaning  over  the  rail,  talked 
about  Thebes,  we  listened  and  watched  through  the  clear  air 
for  the  first  siyn  of  its  grlory.  There  were  the  mountains  be- 
yond,  the  very  mountains  of  which  we  had  read,  and  there  was 
the  plain.  But  where  was  Thebes  ?  We  looked  through  our 
glasses,  and  saw  at  first  only  the  brown  caverned  hills,  the 
parched  fields  and  the  shining  sand.  We  looked  again,  and 
there  sure  enough  were  the  colossal  statues  of  Memnon,  two 
broken  pillars,  so  they  seemed,  with  a  clump  of  trees  near  them. 
Only  the  fields,  the  sand  and  the  hills  beyond  ;  only  the  same 
cluster  of  hovels  on  the  shore  and  the  two  distant  columns. 
This  was  all  that  remained  of  the  glory  of  the  city  that  was  the 
glory  of  the  ancient  world. 

There  was  one  at  least  in  that  small  company  whose  imagi- 
nation fell,  and  who  could  scarcely  believe  that  so  much  splen- 
dor could  only  be  this  barren  plain.  But  this  is  no  time  for 
moral  reflections,  as  we  are  coming  into  the  town  of  Luxor,  one 
fragment  of  the  old  city,  and  on  the  shore  opposite  to  Memnon. 
We  are  coming  to  the  shore,  and  we  see  that  we  have  been 
expected.  The  population  of  Luxor  is  on  the  river  bank ;  all 
the  consulates  have  their  flags  flying,  and  the  dahabeeahs,  of 
which  there  are  five  or  six,  have  their  flags  up.  Right  at  the 
landing  place  is  a  neat  three-storied  stone  building,  painted 
white,  with  the  American  and  Brazilian  flags  on  the  roof.  The 
house  is  all  hung  with  boughs  of  the  date  palm  and  deco- 
rated with  lanterns.  Over  the  door  there  are  two  American 
flags,  and  two  soldiers  are  on  guard.  Evidently  Luxor  is  in 
great  excitement,  for  as  we  come  to  the  wharf  two  soldiers  on 
the  roof  fire  six  or  seven  shots  from  their  muskets.  This  is  our 
salute,  and  as  soon  as  the  plank  is  run  ashore  the  vice  consul 
comes  on  board  with  the  governor  and  welcomes  the  General. 
Then  we  go  ashore,  and  call  on  the   vice  consul.     We  enter 


282 


THE  NILE. 


the  house  and  pass  over  stone  floors  strewn  with  Turkish  and 
Persian  rugs  of  great  value.  We  pass  into  the  best  chamber 
of  the  house,  and  we  hear  another  series  of  musket  shots.  In 
this  best  chamber  the  host  points  out  a  picture  of  the  General, 
which  he  says  in  Arabic  is  one  of  his  household  gods,  and  that 
the  day  which  brought  the  General  under  his  roof  will  ever  be 
a  blessed  day  to  him.     We  noticed  also  a  picture  of  President 


Hayes.  We  sat  on  the  divan, 
and  the  coffee  was  brought, 
and  after  the  coffee  long  pipes. 
Then,  at  the  request  of  our 
host,  we  all  went  up  to  the 
BSpi  roof  of  his  house,  where  we 
™  had  a  fine  view  of  the  country, 
the  country  which  once  shone  with  the  magnificence  of  Thebes, 
but  which  is  now  only  a  valley  between  two  ranges  of  hills — a 
valley  of  sand  and  parched  fields,  here  and  there  a  cluster  of 
hovels  called  a  village,  here  and  there  a  ruin  almost  hidden 
from  view  by  the  shadows  of  the  descending  sun. 

After  we  had  finished  our  hospitalities  we  wrote  our  names 


LUXOR, 


283 


in  the  vice  consul's  book.  We  noted  the  names  of  Dom  Pedro 
of  Brazil,  and  famous  Americans  like  Mr.  Washburne  and  Mr. 
Boker.  Then  we  sauntered  around  the  town.  There  were 
four  or  five  average  houses  from  which  flags  were  flying-.  These 
were  the  houses  of  the  consular  agents.  There  was  one  house 
in  a  grove  surrounded  by  trees  which  we  did  not  visit.  Brugsch 
told  us  that  this  house  had  been  occupied  by  an  American  who 
lived  in  Luxor  fifteen  years,  but  had  now  gone  away.  Not- 
ing the  eagerness  of  travelers  for  antiquities  he  entered  into 
their  manufacture,  and  would  make  mummy  lids,  scarabei,  hie- 
roglyphic inscriptions  and  idols.  We  were  sorry  to  learn  that 
a  fellow  countryman  had  practiced  wooden-nutmeg  games  in 
Egypt  as  an  industry  ;  but  it  was  some  comfort  to  know  that 
his  imitations  were  so  well  done  that  only  an  expert  could  de- 
tect them.  If  an  American  has  no  character,  let  us  be  grate- 
ful that  he  has  skill.  This  American  had  skill  enough  to  make 
money  and  go  home,  and  Luxor  knows  him  no  more.  I  sup- 
pose he  is  a  reformer  by  this  time — a  candidate  for  Congress 
and  opposed  to  corruption.  Brugsch  grew  eloquent  in  his 
denunciation  of  the  fabricator  of  antiquities,  and  his  revelations 
quite  dampened  any  ambition  I  may  have  had  to  become  a  col- 
lector of  Egyptian  relics. 

The  town  of  Luxor  as  it  is  called  is  really  a  collection  of 
houses  that  have  fastened  upon  the  ruins  of  the  old  temple. 
This  temple  is  near  the  river,  and  has  a  fine  facade.  It  was 
built  by  Amunoph  III.  and  Rameses  II.,  who  reigned  between 
thirteen  and  fifteen  hundred  years  before  Christ.  I  am  not  very 
particular  about  the  dates,  because  I  have  learned  that  a  cen- 
tury  or  two  does  not  make  much  difference  in  writing  about  the 
Egyptian  dynasties.  In  fact  the  scholars  themselves  have  not 
agreed  upon  their  chronology.  The  only  scholar  in  whom  we 
have  any  faith  is  Brugsch,  and  when  he  tells  us  that  this  temple 
is  much  more  than  three  thousand  years  old,  we  believe  him.  It 
is  not  a  very  old  temple  as  temples  go,  and  Brugsch  shows  it  to 
us  in  a  matter-of-fact  way,  saying,  "  Wait  until  you  see  Karnak." 
There  is  a  fine  obelisk  here,  the  companion  of  the  one  now 
standing  in  the  Place  de  Concorde.    There  is  a  statue  of  Rameses, 


234  THE  NILE. 

of  colossal  size,  now  broken  and  partly  buried  in  the  sand.  The 
walls  are  covered  with  inscriptions  of  the  usual  character — the 
o-lory  of  the  king,  his  victories,  his  majesty,  his  devotion  to  the 
gods,  and  the  decree  of  the  gods  that  his  name  will  live  for  mil- 
lions of  years.  I  have  no  doubt  much  more  could  be  seen  and 
known  of  this  Luxor  temple  but  for  modern  vandalism.  The 
town  is  simply  a  collection  of  fungi  fastened  on  the  temple.    The 

French  took  one 
wing  of  pillars  and 
put  up  a  house  when 
they  were  here  in 
1 799.  The  English 
consulate  is  within 
the  temple  walls,  de- 
facing the  finest  part 
of  the  facade.  It 
is  a  shame  that  a 
nation  like 
should 
allow  her  flag  to 
float  over  a  house 
whose  presence  is  a 
desecration,  a  rob- 
bery, a  violation  of 
international  cour- 
tesy. There  could 
be  no  more  shame- 
less vandalism  ;  and 
when  one  of  our 
party  asked  Brugsch 
why  the  Khedive  did  not  take  the  house  down  and  allow  the 
owner  to  take  his  flag  elsewhere,  like  other  consuls,  the  answer 
was  that  he  did  not  wish  to  offend  England.  This  is  one  of  the 
many  instances,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  where  English  influence  in 
the  East  is  only  another  name  for  English  tyranny.  The  Eng- 
lishman, so  jealous  of  his  own  rights  at  home,  so  eloquent  in  de- 
fense of  British  honor,  sincerity  and  fair  play,  is  the  least  con- 


great 
England 


i'ALM    GROVE. 


RIDE   TO  MEMNON. 


285 


siderate  of  the  rights  of  others  in  a  land  like  Egypt.  He  looks 
upon  these  people  as  his  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water, 
whose  duty  is  to  work  and  to  thank  the  Lord  when  they  are 
not  flogged.  They  only  regard  these  monuments  as  reservoirs 
from  which  they  can  supply  their  own  museums,  and  tor  that 
purpose  they  have  plundered  Egypt,  just  as  Lord  Elgin  plun- 
dered Greece.  The  Khedive  has  been  trying  to  put  a  stop  to 
the  business,  and  with  some  success.  But  means  are  found  to 
evade  his  commands.  It  is  really  an  act  of  fraud  to  take  a 
monument  or  an  antiquity  out  of  Egypt.  Yet  Brugsch  says 
with  natural  emotion  that  whenever  any  especially  rare  dis- 
covery is  made  during  the  excavations,  the  most  valuable  relic 
of  all  is  pretty  certain  to  be  found  shortly  after  in  one  of  the 
European  museums. 

In  the  morning  we  made  ready  for  our  trip  to  Memnon,  and 
the  temple  home  of  Rameses.  We  set  out  early  in  the  morn- 
ing— early  at  least  for  a  party  of  idle  voyagers  who  do  not 
crave  a  reputation  for  early  rising.  We  had  to  cross  the  river, 
our  boatmen  sing-in  °r  their  Arab  music.  And  when  we  landed  on 
the  other  shore  we  had,  thanks  to  the  forethought  of  our  consul 
at  Thebes,  a  collection  of  stable  donkeys,  with  a  well-mounted 
horse  for  the  General.  We  were  a  little  time  getting  under  way. 
There  was  the  escort  of  servingmen  with  the  luncheons  on 
camels,  who  pushed  ahead.  Then  came  the  General  and  his 
party.  The  party  was  composed  of  fifteen,  as  we  had  with  us 
the  consul,  the  governor  of  the  province,  the  Marquis  and  Has- 
san. But  as  every  donkey  had  two  donkey-boys,  with  a  couple 
of  girls  carrying  water  on  their  heads  running  at  your  side — as 
there  was  a  sheik,  in  stately  turban,  and  five  or  six  soldiers  on 
guard — and  a  crowd  crying  for  baksheesh  and  offering  antiqui- 
ties for  sale,  our  tourists'  group  grew  to  be  quite  an  army,  and 
as  we  trailed  over  the  plain  we  looked  like  a  caravan.  The 
antiquity  dealers  and  water-girls  swarmed  around  us  so  that  it 
was  difficult  to  ride  with  comfort,  and  Hassan,  who  has  practi- 
cal ways  of  settling  problems,  went  among  them  with  a  stick. 
Hassan's  energy,  however,  brought  his  good  name  into  peril, 
for  the  idea  of  beating  the  nimble,  ragged  maidens  who  flocked 


286 


THE  NILE. 


about  us  and  filled  the  air  with  dust,  was  revolting  to  the  lady 
of  the  expedition,  who  summoned  Hassan  before  her  and  for- 
bade him  to  beat  the  children.  Hassan,  who  is  as  kindly  a  be- 
ing as  ever  carried  a  cimeter,  explained  that  he  only  wanted  to 
frighten  them  and  did  not  beat  anybody.  I  quite  believed  him, 
for  in  a  race  the  water-girls,  who  were  as  nimble  as  a  razelle, 


STATUES  OF   MEMhyN. 


would  leave  Hassan,  who  is  stout  and  slow,  far  behind  in  no  time. 
So,  as  a  preventive  measure,  Hassan  was  instructed  to  make  pub- 
lic announcement  that  unless  the  water-girls  and  donkey-boys 
and  antiquity  peddlers  remained  far  behind,  where  they  would 
not  raise  the  dust,  they  should  have  no  baksheesh.  Hassan 
made  this  terrible  proclamation  from  his  donkey  with  many  ges- 
ticulations and  shakings  of  his  stick  ;  and  so  we  kept  on  with 
moderate  comfort  and  peace.  But  every  now  and  then  some 
one  of  the  children  would  steal  up  to  your  side  under  pretense 


ST.  I  TUBS    OF  M EMM  ON. 


287 


of  offering  you  water,  and  coax  you  for  a  copper  coin  with  their 
large,  black,  wondering  eyes,  so  that  resistance  was  impossible, 
and  in  this  way  we  came  to  Memnon. 

All  that  is  left  of  Memnonism  are  the  two  colossal  statues, 
the  one  to  the  north  being  the  statue  that,  according  to  the  his- 
torians and  priests,  used  to  utter  a  sound  every  morning  when 
the  sun  rose.  The  statue  is  silent  enough  now,  and  is  a  mono- 
lith  about  fifty  feet  high.  A  good  part  of  the  base  is  buried  in 
the  earth,  but  they  loom  up  over  the  plain,  and  may  be  seen — as 
in  fact  we  did  see  them — miles  and  miles  away.  You  may  have 
an  idea  of  the  size  when  you  know  that  the  statue  measures 
eighteen  feet  three  inches  across  the  shoulders,  sixteen  feet  six 
inches  from  the  top  of  the  shoulder  to  the  elbow,  and  the  other 
portions  of  the  body  in  due  proportion.  No  trace  can  be  found 
of  the  cause  of  the  vocal  sunrise  phenomenon.  One  theory  is 
that  the  priests  used  to  climb  into  a  recess  in  the  body  of  the 
statue  and  perform  a  juggler's  trick.  I  do  not  think  so  badly  of 
the  Egyptian  priests,  who,  I  suppose,  were  good  men  in  their 
way,  and  not  charlatans.  You  might  find  one  priest  in  a  multi- 
tude capable  of  climbing  into  a  recess  and  calling  upon  the  peo- 
ple to  pay  pew  rent,  or  tithes,  or  something  of  the  kind.  But 
this  sound  continued  for  generations,  and  I  do  not  believe  you 
could  find  generations  of  priests  carrying  on  the  deception  for 
years  and  years;  so  I  dismiss  that  theory  and  take  another  which 
Brugsch  explains  to  us.  The  statue  would  be  moist  with  dew 
at  sunrise,  and  the  sun's  rays  acting  upon  the  dew  would  cause 
it  to  emit  a  sound  like  an  interrupted  chord  of  music  ;  just  such 
a  sound  as  you  hear  from  a  sea-shell  if  you  hold  it  to  your  ear. 
As  the  sun  is  sure  to  shine  every  morning  on  these  plains  you 
could  be  certain  that  such  a  phenomenon  would  recur  daily.  I 
can  well  imagine  how  a  freak  of  nature  might  be  taken  as  the 
voice  of  the  gods,  and  how  humble  priests  would  bow  down  to 
it  and  not  enter  into  scientific  speculations.  After  the  statue 
had  been  tossed  by  an  earthquake  and  riven,  the  music  ceased, 
which  only  confirms  me  in  doing  justice  to  the  poor  priests. 
After  we  had  ridden  around  the  Memnon  statue  and  its  com- 
panion— around  and  around  them,  so  as  to  see  them  from  all 


2S8  THE  NILE. 

sides  and  have  a  full  sense  of  their  immensity — after  we  had 
rested  a  half  hour  in  the  grateful  shade  of  the  column,  for  the 
day  was  warm  and  severe,  we  made  our  way  to  the  neighbor- 
ing temple  of  Medeenet  Aboo.  Our  ride  to  this  temple  was 
over  a  mass  of  sand  and  rubbish.  But  near  it  was  a  sheltering 
grove  of  date  palms,  and  the  Marquis,  whose  practical  mind  is 
never  disturbed  by  any  ruins,  however  ancient,  quietly  informed 
us,  as  an  encouragement  under  the  beating  sun,  that  we  were 
to  have  luncheon. 

Medeenet  Aboo  was  one  of  the  great  temples  of  Thebes,  and 
it  deserves  special  mention  here  as  the  only  one  where  you  can 
find  traces  of  the  home  life  of  an  Egyptian  king.  I  had  been 
asking  Brugsch  on  many  occasions  where  we  could  see  some 
trace  of  how  king  and  people  lived  in  the  early  days.  One 
grew  tired — let  me  say  it  if  I  dare  without  irreverence — one 
grew  tired  of  temples  and  tombs  and  these  endless  tributes  to 
the  valor  of  kings  and  the  virtues  of  the  gods.  So  when  we 
came  to  Medeenet  Aboo  we  were  shown  the  rooms  where  the 
great  Rameses  lived.  This  was  the  third  Rameses,  who  lived 
twelve,  or  perhaps  thirteen  centuries  before  Christ — who  is 
supposed  by  some  to  have  succeeded  the  Pharaoh  who  brought 
the  plagues  upon  Egypt.  To  enter  the  private  apartments  of 
a  great  monarch  is  undoubtedly  a  privilege,  and  I  was  prepared 
for  some  ceremony  in  making  our  call.  But  the  apartment  was 
in  the  second  story,  and  the  ceremonies  were  something  like 
those  which  a  schoolboy  adopts  in  climbing  a  neighbor's  cherry 
tree.  You  climbed  a  stone,  and  then  a  wall,  and  up  the  wall 
over  stones  which  time  and  sight-seers  had  worn  smooth,  anil 
into  a  window  from  a  precarious  ledge.  I  suppose  the  great 
king  entered  into  the  bosom  of  his  family  by  some  less  compli- 
cated method;  and  as  I  saw  Hadden  and  Wilner  climb  the  rock 
nimbly  enough  I  remembered  that  they  were  sailors,  and  could 
run  up  rigging,  and  that  I  would  wait  and  take  their  word  for 
it  when  they  came  down.  But  when  I  saw  the  conqueror  of 
Lee  deliberately  follow,  and  scale  the  imperial  chamber  with  all 
the  activity  of  a  young  lieutenant,  a  sense  of  reproach  came 
over  me,  and   I  was  bound  to   follow.     The  room  in  which  his 


MEDEENET  A  BOO. 


?8o 


majesty  lived,  and  which  one  reached  somewhat  out  of  breath 
and  a  good  deal  covered  with  dust,  was  not  an  imposing  apart- 
ment. It  evidently  feels  the  absence  of  the  master's  eye,  for 
the  bats  have  taken  possession  and  the  roof  is  gone.  The  walls 
are  covered  with  inscriptions.  But  you  see  gentler  themes  than 
those  we  have  been  studying  these  many,  many  days.  Here 
the  king  lived  with  the  ladies  of  his  harem.  You  see  him  at- 
tended by  them.  They  are  giving  him  lotus  flowers ;  they 
wave  fans  before  him.  In  one  picture  he  sits  with  a  favorite  at 
a  eame  of  draughts.  His  arm 
is  extended,  holding  a  piece 
in  the  act  of  moving.  I  am 
afraid  he  had  little  trouble  in 
winning  that  frame,  as  his  fair 
opponent,  instead  of  watching 
the  moves,  is  nursing  his  senses 
by  holding  a  perfumed  flower 
to  his  nose.  This  glimpse  of 
the  natural  domestic  life  of  the 
old  days  was  refreshing  after 
the  battles  and  prayers  that 
had  followed  us  all  the  way 
from  Abydos.  It  is  the  only 
fact  I  care  to  note  about  this 
temple,  especially  as  we  are  to- 
morrow to  visit  Karnak,  and 
in  the  presence  of  that  stupen- 
dous ruin  why  waste  space  on  Medeenet  Aboo  ?  So  we  go 
down  into  the  sanctuary  and  take  our  luncheon,  the  Marquis, 
who  did  not  climb  the  ruin,  welcoming  us  with  beaming  eyes. 
We  gather  about  the  rude  table,  and  we  drink  the  health  of 
the  Khedive,  and  home  again.  We  have  the  same  proces- 
sion, donkey-boys  and  water-maidens  and  sellers  of  relics. 
When  we  come  to  the  river  bank  Mrs.  Grant  summons  all 
the  maidens  to  her  and  distributes  baksheesh.  The  attempt 
to  preserve  order  is  vain.  The  water-maidens  rushed  and 
screamed,  and  rushed  at  the  purse,  and  when  paid  at  one  end 
19 


BY    THE    WAYSIDE. 


2go  THE  NILE. 

of  the  line  ran  down  to  the  other  and  cried  because  they  had 
received  nothing.  Finally,  after  liberal  disbursements  and  in 
sheer  despair  at  doing  justice  to  all,  and  not  without  a  mur- 
mur at  the  savagery  and  selfishness  of  the  ones  she  meant 
to  aid,  our  gracious  lady  turned  the  business  over  to  Hassan. 
As  we  pushed  off  in  our  boats  we  saw  Hassan  making  his  small 
payments  to  a  quite  orderly  and  decorous  crowd.  But  Hassan 
had  a  stick,  and,  alas  !  that  one  must  write  it  of  so  glorious  a 
land,  the  stick  has  become  an  essential  element  in  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  people. 

We  had  seen  Thebes,  we  had  even  begun  to  grow  weary  of 
Thebes.      There  was  a  dinner  in  state  which  had  to  be  eaten. 
The  General  was  tired  and  concluded  he  would  not   go.      He 
had  been  riding  all  day  to  Memnon,  the  temple,  and  back  again, 
and  we  were  all  dusty  and  tired.      But  when  the  General's  re- 
o-ret  was  sent  our  Arab  host  was  so  sad  about  it,  and  so  ap- 
prehensive lest  his  fellow  consuls,  who  knew  the    General  had 
dined  with  other  vice  consuls   on   the   way,    might  misconstrue 
his  absence.      So  the  General  went  in  state  or  in  as  much  state 
as  we  can  assume  in  this  region,  our  naval  friends  in  full  uniform. 
I  believe  in  the  uniform  hereafter  as  an  element  of  civilization, 
especially  when  I  saw  the   awe  which  the  epaulets  and  cocked 
hat  of  Hadden  inspired  among  the  masses.     There  was  a  ten- 
dency on  the  part   of  populations  where   we  visited  to  take  the 
Doctor  in  his  uniform  for  General  Grant,  and  Hadden  in  his  uni- 
form for  the  son.      When  the  traditions   of  this  age  are  told  by 
venerable  sheiks  to  listening  children,  I  am  afraid  it  will  be  said 
that  when  the  great  king  of  the  Americans  came  to  Egypt  and 
made  his  entry  his  dress  blazed   with  gold,  with    gold   hanging 
from  his  shoulders  and  fine  gold  seaming  his  limbs  ;   that  he  was 
a  tall,  comely  man,  with  a  flowing  beard — a  beard  like  that  of  the 
prophet,  whose  name  is  blessed  and  will  live  forever;   that  when 
he  mounted  his  donkey — his  white  donkey  with  trappings  of  gold 
— the  splendor  of  his  form  and  his  raiment  was  so  dazzling  that 
the  people  bowed  their  heads  and  shaded  their  eyes,  so  great 
was  the  glory  thereof.      You  see  this  is  the  way  history  is  made 
by  a  credulous,  imaginative  people.      But  the  uniforms  lit  up  the 


DINNER   AT  THEBES. 


291 


landscape  and  glowed  under  the  candles.  When  we  went  to 
our  Theban  dinner  the  Doctor  was  ill,  and  the  honor  fell  upon 
Hadden,  who  blazed  in  gold,  and  whom  the  waiters  were  with 
the  utmost  difficulty  prevented  from  helping  as  the  honored 
guest.  Our  dinner  was  served  in  the  upper  chamber  of  the 
house,  and  the  host  sat  on  one  side  of  the  table  eatiny  nothing, 
in  a  state  of  constant  alarm,  that  made  us  sympathize  with  him. 


He  was  an  Egyptian,  with  a 
keen,  kind,  swarthy  face,  with 
a  slight  gray  beard,  who  had 
never  been  north  of  Thebes  in 
his  life  and  had  never  drank  any- 
thing but  Nile  water.  I  suppose  the  honor  of  entertaining  the 
Chief  Magistrate  of  the  United  States  and  the  fear  lest  he 
might  not  do  us  all  the  honor  he  wished  oppressed  him,  and  he 
sat  in  deep  oppression,  his  eye  wandering  from  the  General  to 
the  waiters,  who  also  seemed  to  share  his  alarm.  The  dinner 
was  a  stupendous  affair,  course  after  course  in  Oriental  profu- 
sion, until  we  could  not  even  pay  the  dishes  the  compliment  of 


2Q2  THE  NILE. 

tasting  them.  Then  came  the  coffee  and  the  pipes.  During 
the  dinner,  which  was  composed  of  the  host  and  our  own  party, 
we  had  music.  A  group  of  Arab  minstrels  came  in  and  squatted 
on  the  floor.  The  leader  of  the  band — I  should  say  about  half- 
a-dozen — was  blind,  but  his  skill  in  handling  his  instrument  was 
notable.  It  was  a  rude  instrument,  of  the  violin  class,  the  body 
of  it  a  cocoanut  shell.  He  held  it  on  the  ground  and  played 
with  a  bow,  very  much  as  one  would  play  a  violoncello.  He 
played  love  songs  and  narratives,  and  under  the  promptings  of 
Sami  Bey  went  through  all  the  grades  of  his  art.  But  whether 
the  theme  was  love  or  war  there  came  that  sad  refrain,  that 
motive  of  despair,  that  seemed  to  speak  from  the  soul  and  to 
tell  of  the  unending  misery  of  their  race.  Mr.  Jesse  Grant,  who 
has  a  taste  for  music,  was  quite  interested  in  the  performance, 
and  sought  to  teach  the  minstrels  some  of  our  European  and 
American  airs.  One  of  them  was  the  "  Marseillaise."  The 
Arab  listened  to  it  and  tried  again  and  again  to  follow  the 
notes.  He  would  follow  for  a  few  bars  and  break  down,  break 
into  the  same  mournful  cadence  which  had  been  the  burden  of 
his  melody.  It  seemed  strange,  this  burdened  and  beaten  slave 
trying  to  grasp  that  wild,  brave,  bold  anthem  which  spoke  the 
resolve  of  a  nation  to  be  free.  It  was  beyond  and  above  him. 
The  music  of  the  "Marseillaise"  was  never  intended  for  the 
Libyan  desert.  If  these  people,  oppressed  and  driven  as  they 
are,  should  ever  come  to  know  it,  there  will  be  hope  for  this 
land  of  promise,  which  has  so  long  been  the  land  of  sorrow  and 
servitude. 

We  were  to  see  the  wonder  of  the  world  in  Karnak.  Kar- 
nak  is  only  about  forty  minutes  from  Luxor,  and  does  not 
involve  crossing  the  river.  I  was  grateful  to  the  vice  consul 
for  sending  us  the  same  group  of  donkeys  who  had  borne  us  to 
Memnon.  And  when  I  ascended  the  hill  there  was  my  friend 
Mohammed  Ali  jumping  and  calling  and  pushing  his  donkey 
toward  me.  A  good  donkey  has  much  to  do  with  the  pleasure 
of  your  journey,  and  Mohammed  Ali's  was  a  patient,  sure-footed 
little  thing  that  it  made  me  almost  ashamed  to  ride.  We  set 
out   early,   because   it  was  commanded  by   Sami   Bey  that  we 


KARNAK. 


-'93 


should  return  to  the  boat  and  breakfast,  and  while  at  breakfast 
steam  up  the  river. 

I  cannot  tell  you  when  the  Temple  of  Karnak  was  built. 
You  see,  in  this  matter  of  chronology,  authorities  as  high  as 
Wilkinson,  Bun- 
sen,  and  Mari- 
etta differ  some- 
times as  much  as 
a  thousand  years 
in  a  single  date. 
But  m  y  o  w  n 
opinion  is  that 
Brugsch  knows 
all  about  it,  and 
he  places  the 
first  building 
three  thousand 
years  b  e  fo  r e 
Christ.  This 
seems  to  be  a 
long  time,  but  I 
wonder  if  we 
think  how  lone 
ago  it  really 
was  ?  You  will 
remember  read- 
ing how  Abra- 
ham went  down 

T-"  .        1  KARNAK. 

to  h.  g  y  p  t  be- 
cause of  the  famine  in  the  land,  taking  with  him  Sarah,  his  wife, 
who  was  fair,  and  whom  he  passed  off  as  his  sister.  And  Abra- 
ham, rich  in  cattle  and  silver  and  gold,  went  back  from  Egypt 
to  become  the  founder  and  father  of  his  race?  When  we  recall 
the  story  of  Abraham's  visit  to  Egypt  it  seems  as  if  we  were 
going  back  to  the  beginning  of  things,  for  we  go  back  to  the 
time  of  Lot,  Melchisedec,  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  Well,  if 
Abraham  on  that  visit  had  visited  Thebes — and  it  is  quite  pos- 


2QA  THE  NILE. 

sible  he  did,  especially  after  he  became  rich — he  would  have 
seen  a  part  of  this  very  temple  of  Karnak,  and  he  could  have 
read  on  its  walls  the  very  inscription  which  Brugsch  translates 
to-day,  and  which  would  have  told  him,  as  it  tells  us,  of  the 
glory  of  a  king  who  had  reigned  before  him.  It  is,  to  the 
writer  at  least,  this  comparative  chronology,  this  blending  of 
the  history  you  see  on  every  temple  and  tomb  with  the  history 
that  came  to  us  in  childhood  from  the  pious  mother's  knee,  that 
gives  Egypt  its  never-ceasing  interest.  You  sit  in  the  shadow 
of  the  column,  sheltered  from  the  imperious  noonday  sun — the 
same  shade  which,  perhaps,  sheltered  Abraham  as  he  sat  and 
mused  over  his  fortunes  and  yearned  for  his  own  land.  The 
images  are  here;  the  legends  are  as  legible  as  they  were  in  his 
time.  You  sit  in  the  shadow  of  the  column,  thinking  about 
luncheon  and  home  and  your  donkey,  and  hear  the  chattering 
of  Arabs  pressing  relics  upon  you,  or  doing  your  part  in  merry, 
idle  talk.  It  is  hard  to  realize  that  in  the  infinite  and  awful 
past — in  the  days  when  the  Lord  came  down  to  the  earth  and 
communed  with  men  and  gave  his  commandments — these  col- 
umns and  statues,  these  plinths  and  entablatures,  these  mighty 
bending  walls,  upon  which  chaos  has  put  its  seal,  were  the 
shrines  of  a  nation's  faith  and  sovereignty.  Yet  this  is  all  told 
in  stone. 

I  find  myself  in  a  whirl  in  writing  about  Karnak,  and  the 
truth  is  I  have  put  off  again  and  again  writing  about  it  in 
the  hope  that  some  inspiration  might  come  to  make  it  all  plain. 
What  I  or  any  of  us,  any  hurried  traveler  from  another  world, 
may  do  or  think,  is  of  little  value;  and  if  I  were  to  give  you 
simply  our  personal  experiences — how  we  came  and  strolled, 
how  we  climbed  over  masses  of  rubbish,  how  we  clustered  about 
Brugsch  and  heard  him  unravel  the  inscriptions  on  the  walls, 
how  we  had  our  photographs  taken,  how  we  had  a  bit  of  lun- 
cheon quenched  in  grateful  waters,  it  would  be  a  page  out  of 
General  Grant's  experiences  in  Egypt,  but  it  would  tell  nothing 
of  Karnak.  What  I  tried  to  do,  at  least  as  I  rode  around  its 
walls,  what  in  fact  I  have  tried  to  do  always  in  Egypt,  is  to 
bring  back  the  temples  as  they  were  and  picture  them  in  their 


KARNAK. 


295 


splendor,  and  then  look  at  them  in  their  ruin.  I  fancied  I  did 
something  of  this  at  Dendoreh  and  Abydos  and  Et  Foo — that 
I  could  really  see  what  those  temples  must  have  been  in  their 
day — but  Karnak  sweeps  beyond  the  imagination,  so  vast  and 
solemn  is  the  ruin. 

Let  me  take  refuge  for  a  moment  in  some  figures  which  I 
condense  from  the  books  and  from  what  Brugsch  tells  me  in 
conversation.  Karnak,  which  was  not  only  a  temple,  but  one 
in  the  series  of  temples  which  constituted  Thebes,  is  about  a 
half  mile  from  the  river,  a  mile  or  two  from  the  temple  of 
Luxor.  The  front  wall  or  propylon  is  370  feet  broad,  50  feet 
deep,  and  the  standing  tower  140  feet  high.  Leading  up  to 
this  main  entrance  is  an 
avenue  lined  with  statues 
and  sphinxes,  200  feet 
long.  When  you  enter 
this  gate  you  enter  an  open 
court-yard,  275  feet  by  329. 
There  is  a  corridor  or 
cloister  on  either  side  ;  in 
the  middle  a  double  line  of 
columns,  of  which  one  only 
remains.  You  now  come 
to  another  wall,  or  pro- 
pylon,  as  large  as  the 
entrance,  and  enter  the 
the  most  mag- 
ruin  in  Egypt. 
The  steps  of  the  door  are 
40  feet  by  10.  The  room 
is  1  70  feet  by  329,  and  the 
roof  was  supported  by  134  columns.  These  columns  are  all  or 
nearly  all  standing,  but  the  roof  has  o-one.  Twelve  are  62  feet 
high  without  the  plinth,  and  1  1  feet  6  inches  in  diameter.  One 
hundred  and  twenty-two  are  42  feet  5  inches  in  height  and  28 
feet  in  circumference.  They  were  all  brilliantly  colored,  and 
some  of  them  retain  the  colors  still ;   and  you  can  well  imagine 


great  hall 
nificent 


296  THE  NILE. 

what  must  have  been  the  blaze  of  lieht  and  color  when  the  kines 
and  priests  passed  through  in  solemn  procession.  We  pass 
through  another  gate  into  an  open  court.  Here  is  an  obelisk 
in  granite  seventy-five  feet  high,  and  the  fragments  of  an- 
other, its  companion.  The  inscriptions  on  them  are  as  clear  as 
though  they  had  been  cut  yesterday,  so  gentle  is  this  climate  in 
its  dealings  with  Time.  They  celebrate  the  victories  and  virtues 
of  the  kings  who  reigned  seventeen  hundred  years  before  Christ, 
and  promise  the  kings  in  the  name  of  the  immortal  gods  that 
their  glory  shall  live  for  ages.  We  pass  into  another  chamber 
very  much  in  ruins  and  see  another  obelisk  ninety-two  feet  high 
and  eight  square — the  largest  in  the  world.  This  monument 
commemorates  the  virtues  of  the  king's  daughter,  womanly  and 
queenly  virtues,  which  met  their  reward,  let  us  hope,  thirty-five 
centuries  ago.  You  may  form  some  idea  of  what  the  Egyptians 
could  do  in  the  way  of  mechanics  and  engineering  when  you 
know  that  this  obelisk  is  a  single  block  of  granite,  that  it  was 
brought  from  the  quarry  miles  and  miles  away,  erected  and 
inscribed  in  seven  months.  The  next  room  was  the  sanctuary, 
the  holy  of  holies,  and  is  now  a  mass  of  rubbish  requiring  nim- 
ble feet  to  climb.  You  scramble  over  stones  and  sand  until 
you  come  to  what  was  the  room  where  King  Thothmes  III., 
who  lived  sixteen  centuries  before  Christ,  was  represented  as 
giving  offerings  to  fifty-six  of  his  royal  predecessors.  The  hall 
is  a  ruin,  and  some  French  vandals  carried  off  the  tablet — one 
of  the  most  valuable  in  Egypt — to  Paris.  Altogether  the  build- 
ing alone  was  1,108  feet  long  and  about  300  wide,  the  circuit 
around  the  outside,  according  to  a  Roman  historian  who  saw  it 
in  its  glory,  being  about  a  mile  and  a  half. 

This  is  the  temple,  but  the  temple  was  only  a  part.  There 
were  three  avenues  leading  from  it  to  the  other  temples.  These 
avenues  were  lined  with  statues,  large  and  small,  generally  of 
the  sphinx.  I  saw  numbers  of  them  sitting  in  their  ancient 
places  slowly  crumbling  to  ruin.  There  were  two  colossal 
statues  at  the  door,  now  lying  on  the  earth  an  uncouth  mass  of 
granite.  One  of  them  was  almost  buried  in  the  sand,  the  ear 
being  exposed.      You  can   fancy  how  large   it  must  have  been 


KARNAK.  tq7 

when  you  know  this  ear  was  a  foot  long  at  least.  Near  the 
obelisk,  some  distance  from  the  temple,  is  a  pool  of  water,  on 
the  banks  of  which  black  children  are  scampering  and  shouting 
"Baksheesh,  howadji."  This  was  the  Sacred  Lake.  This  lake 
had  an  important  office  in  the  religion  of  the  old  Egyptians. 
When  an  Egyptian  died  and  was  embalmed  his  body  was 
brought  to  the  lake.  The  procession  was  a  solemn  one — 
mourners  throwing  dust  on  their  heads,  a  priest  sprinkling  water 
from  a  brush  dipped  in  a  vase,  very  much  as  Catholic  priests 
sprinkle  holy  water  ;  attendants  throwing  palms  on  the  ground, 
others  carrying  fruits  and  meats,  incense  and  ostrich  feathers. 
The  coffin  was  borne  on  a  sledge  until  it  came  to  this  lake. 
Here  were  forty- two  judges,  men  who  had  known  the  deceased. 
Here  was  the  boat,  the  sacred  boat  that  was  to  carry  the  body 
to  the  other  shore.  If  it  could  be  shown  to  these  judges  that 
the  deceased  had  been  an  ungodly  man,  that  his  life  had  been  a 
scandal,  then  he  was  denied  sepulture.  If  it  was  shown  that  he 
had  lived  worthily  and  the  judges  so  decided,  then  all  weeping 
ceased,  eulogies  were  pronounced  upon  his  memory,  the  body 
was  carried  to  the  other  shore,  and  from  thence  removed  to  the 
catacombs  to  rest  in  honor  and  peace — in  peace,  at  least,  until 
Arab  peasants  rummaged  their  graves  and  made  merchandise 
of  their  coffins  and  grave-clothes,  their  ornaments  and  tokens, 
their  very  bones,  just  as  these  greasy  Arabs  who  swarm  about 
our  donkeys  are  doing  at  this  very  hour. 

Wherever  we  find  walls  we  have  inscriptions.  The  inscrip- 
tions are  in  hieroglyphic  language — a  language  as  clear  to 
scholars  now  as  the  Latin  or  the  Sanskrit.  Brugsch  reads  them 
off  to  us  as  glibly  as  though  he  were  reading  signs  from  a 
Broadway  store.  The  stories  will  hardly  bear  repetition,  for 
they  are  the  same  that  we  saw  at  Dendoreh,  at  Abydos,  all 
through  Egypt.  They  tell  of  battles  and  the  glory  of  the  king 
Rameses,  who  is  supposed  to  be  the  Sesostris  of  the  Greeks. 
We  have  him  leading  his  men  to  attack  a  fortified  place.  Again 
we  see  him  leading  foot  soldiers  and  putting  an  enemy  to  the 
sword.  We  have  him  leading  his  captives  as  an  offering  to  the 
gods — and  offering  not  only  prisoners,  but  booty.     The  groups 


.'98 


THE  NILE. 


of  prisoners  are  rudely  done,  but  you  see  the  type  of  race.  We 
know  the  Hebrew  by  the  unmistakable  cast  of  features — as 
marked  as  the  face  of  Lord  Beaconsfield.  We  trace  the  Phoe- 
nician, the  Etruscan,  as  well  as  the  negro  types  from  Ethiopia, 
and  thus  learn  of  the  warlike  achievements  of  this  monarch, 
whose  fame  is  carved  all  over  Egypt,  and  about  whose  name 
there  is  an  interesting;  debate.  Ag-ain  and  again  these  war 
themes  are  repeated,  one  king  after  another  reciting  his  con- 
quests and  his  virtues,  wars  and  treaties  of  peace.  It  seemed 
in  the  building  of  these  temples  that  the  intention  was  to  make 
the  walls  monumental  records  of  the  achievements  of  various 
reigns.  Thus  five  centuries  are  covered  by  the  reigns  of  Sethi 
and  Sheshonk,  and  yet  each  king  tells  his  own  story  side  by 
side.  When  the  walls  were  covered,  or  a  king  wished  to  be 
especially  gracious  to  the  priests,  or,  as  is  more  probable,  de- 
sired to  employ  his  soldiers,  he  would  build  a  new  wing  or  ad- 
dition to  the  temple  already  existing,  striving  if  possible  to 
make  his  own  addition  more  magnificent  than  those  of  his  pre- 
decessors. In  this  way  came  the  Great  Hall  of  Karnak,  and  in 
every  temple  we  have  visited  this  has  been  noticed.  As  a  con- 
sequence these  stupendous,  inconceivable  ruins  were  not  the 
work  of  one  prince  and  one  generation,  but  of  many  princes  and 
many  generations.  And,  as  there  was  always  something  to  acid 
and  always  a  new  ambition  coming  into  play,  we  find  these 
temples,  tombs,  pyramids,  obelisks,  all  piled  one  upon  the  other, 
all  inspired  by  the  one  sentiment  and  all  telling  the  same  story. 
It  was  because  that  Thebes  was  the  center  of  a  rich  and  fertile 
province,  sheltered  from  an  enemy  by  the  river  and  the  moun- 
tains, that  she  was  allowed  to  grow  from  century  to  century  in 
uninterrupted  splendor.  What  that  splendor  must  have  been 
we  cannot  imagine.  Here  are  the  records  and  here  are  the 
ruins.  If  the  records  read  like  a  tale  of  enchantment,  these 
ruins  look  the  work  of  gods.  The  world  does  not  show,  except 
where  we  have  evidences  of  the  convulsions  of  nature,  a  ruin  as 
vast  as  that  of  Karnak.  Imagine  a  city  covering  two  banks  of 
the  Hudson,  running  as  far  as  from  the  Battery  to  Yonkers,  and 
back  five,  six,  or  seven  miles,  all  densely  built,  and  you  have  an 


KARNAK. 


299 


idea  of  the  extent  of  Thebes.  But  this  will  only  give  you  an 
idea  of  size.  The  buildings  were  not  Broadways  and  Fifth 
Avenues,  but  temples,  and  colossal  monuments,  and  tombs,  the 
greatness  of  which  and  the  skill  and  patience  necessary  to  build 
them  exciting  our  wonder  to-day — yes,  to-day,  rich  as  we  are 
with  the  achievements  and 
possibilities  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Thebes  in 
its  day  must  have  been  a 
wonder  of  the  world,  even 
of  the  ancient  world  which 
knew  Nineveh  and  Baby- 
lon. To-day  all  that  re- 
mains are  a  few  villages 
of  mud  huts,  a  few  houses 
in  stone  flying  consular 
flags,  a  plain  here  and 
there  strewed  with  ruins, 
and  under  the  sands  ruins 
even  more  stupendous  than 
those  we  now  see,  which 
have  not  yet  become  mani- 
fest. 

We  were  told  that  we 
should  see  Karnak  by  moon- 
light, that  the  effect  would 
be  worth  the  journey,  and 
there  would  be  the  chance 
of  shooting  a  hyena.  But 
the  moon  was  not  in  sea- 
son, and  the  only  two  of 
the  party  who  cared  about 
hyenas,  Mr.  Grant  and  Mr.  Wilner,  were  saving  themselves  for 
the  crocodiles,  who  were  said  to  be  in  great  force  up  the  river  wait- 
ing to  be  shot.  What  a  comment  upon  the  vanity  of  human 
wishes  to  see  the  sanctuary  of  Sesostris  gravely  pointed  out  to 
sportsmen  as  the  lair  of  the  wild  beast!    But  Egypt  is  full  of  these 


EGYPTIAN     WELL 


300  THE  NILE. 

suggestions.  I  should  like  to  have  seen  Karnak  by  moonlight, 
but  as  this  was  not  to  be,  we  made  the  most  of  our  mornine  visit. 
We  followed  Brugsch  over  the  whole  ruin  and  listened  to  his 
story.  We  traced  with  him  the  inscriptions  on  the  walls.  We 
gathered  under  the  shade  of  a  column,  and,  having  carpeted  a 
broken  column  for  Mrs.  Grant,  we  sat  around  her  and  refreshed 
ourselves  out  of  a  basket  whose  contents  the  Marquis  dispensed 
with  his  accustomed  urbanity  and  grace.  We  lounged  around 
and  about  for  an  hour  or  so,  smoking;  chatting-  wondering- 
whether  there  was  any  news  from  the  war ;  whether  there  were 
letters  at  Luxor  ;  whether  the  Pope  was  dead  ;  whether  Con- 
kling  and  Blaine  had  really  made  it  all  up  ;  whether  Hadden 
would  be  thrown  from  his  donkey  on  his  way  back.  We 
formed  a  group  and  had  a  photograph  taken,  all  of  us  there,  on 
the  skirts  of  the  great  hall,  surrounding  the  General  and  Mrs. 
Grant.  I  suppose  you  can  buy  the  picture  if  you  come  to 
Thebes.  The  General  wears  his  pith  helmet,  swathed  in  silk, 
and  you  just  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  eyes  and  all  the  force  of  his 
brave,  kind,  strong  face.  Mrs.  Grant  sits  near  him,  shrinking 
from  the  sun.  Jesse  Grant  holds  an  Arab  child  close  to  him. 
The  child  had  been  cling-ing;  to  him,  following;  him  all  the  morn- 
ing,  holding  the  hem  of  his  coat,  following  him  with  the  wistful 
eyes  of  a  pet  animal.  Jesse  had  quite  won  the  child  by  some 
attention  in  the  way  of  an  orange  or  an  apple,  and  it  came  with 
him  on  his  donkey  to  the  boat,  and  only  left  after  it  had  been 
endowed  beyond  any  Arab  child  in  Luxor  that  day.  Crouching 
close  to  the  ground  is  the  face  of  our  ever-kindly  leader,  that 
good  Moslem  Sami  Bey,  his  head  enveloped  in  a  silk  cloth  of 
orang-eand  ereen,  that  was  brought  to  him  from  Mecca.  There 
is  Brugsch,  with  the  cane  in  his  hand,  anil  if  I  only  knew  one 
thousandth  part  of  what  he  knows  I  would  make  these  letters 
an  addition  to  our  literature.  Brugsch  looks  a  little  severe,  but 
he  has  been  talking  about  the  vandals  who  destroy  monuments 
and  rob  Egypt  of  her  treasures,  and  wishing  he  had  certain  per- 
sons in  his  power  for  a  half  hour,  that  he  might  inflict  with  his  own 
hands  the  severest  punishment  known  to  the  laws.  The  bearded 
face  is  that  of  Dr.  Cooke,  who  would  give  all  the  ruins  of  Karnak 


POWELL    TUCKER.  .QI 

if  he  were  sure  of  a  mail  when  he  returned  to  the  boat.  Hadden 
sits  in  the  corner  with  his  legs  crossed,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
he  will  be  singing  through  the  ruins  the  camp-meeting  refrain, 
"  Let  my  people  go."  The  consul  general  looks  like  a  clergy- 
man about  to  open  service,  and  the  young,  mustached  face  near 
him  is  that  of  Ensign  Wilner,  who  hopes  to  be  an  admiral  before 
he  dies.  On  the  extreme  left  is  Hassan,  with  his  saber,  who 
has  carried  that  weapon  for  eighteen  years  as  the  defender  of 
the  American  eagle.  Next  to  Hassan  is  the  Marquis — but  it 
does  not  do  justice  to  my  noble  friend,  whose  face  is  blurred 
and  fails  to  disclose  the  philosophical  lines  of  his  countenance. 
Mrs.  Grant's  maid  Bella,  who  looks  at  all  these  ruins  with  the 
eye  of  a  devout  Scottish  Presbyterian,  and  sees  in  them  only 
the  fulfillment  of  stern  Hebrew  prophecies,  completes  all  the 
essential  elements  in  a  group,  which  I  am  glad  to  have  as  a 
memento  of  one  day  at  Karnak. 

It  was  here  we  came  across  the  tracks  of  the  name-writing 
donkey.  There  are  traces  of  this  animal  in  other  parts  of  the 
world,  but  in  Egypt  they  reach  the  highest  form  of  develop- 
ment. The  stone  is  soft,  and  travelers  who  come  here  have 
time  to  spend,  and  it  is  only  an  hour  or  two  to  cut  your  name 
deep  in  the  stone  which  for  thirty  centuries  has  borne  the  story 
of  a  nation's  power.  You  look  at  a  fine  range  of  carving  and 
follow  the  story  of  the  legend,  and  suddenly  you  are  arrested 
by  some  name  hacked  in  the  walls — Brown,  or  Smith,  or 
Thompson.  These  inscriptions  go  back,  some  of  them,  a  long 
time.  There  are  Greek  names  that  belong  to  the  days  of  the 
Lower  Empire.  I  saw  many  French  names,  belonging  to  the 
expedition  of  Bonaparte  in  1799,  twenty  at  least,  especially 
on  the  top  of  the  pylon  at  Et  Foo.  One  name,  "John  Gordon, 
1804,"  is  frequently  repeated.  I  suppose  John  Gordon  has  an- 
swered for  his  sins  by  this  time,  and  let  us  hope  that  the  record- 
ing angel  reminded  him  of  the  way  he  hacked  the  walls  at 
Luxor  and  Dendereh.  But  the  greatest  donkey  of  the  tribe — 
the  monumental  donkey  of  the  age — is  "Powell  Tucker"  of 
New  York.  If  Powell  Tucker  reads  these  lines  he  will  learn 
that  his  name  is  the  theme  of  repeated  execrations  throughout 


THE  MILE. 


Egypt.  Powell,  as  the  story  goes,  did  not  content  himself  with 
carving  his  name  on  the  walls — that,  perhaps,  would  have  been 
too  much  trouble.  So  he  carried  a  sailor  with  him,  and  this 
sailor  had  a  pot  of  black  paint  and  a  brush.  Whenever  Powell 
came  to  a  monument  the  sailor  painted  in  large  black  letters, 
"Powell  Tucker,  New  York,  1870."  Sometimes  it  is  only  "  P. 
T.,"  but  the  tracks  are  here  and  there  all  over  Egypt.  The 
authorities  in  charge  of  the  antiquities  have  tried  to  rub  out 
this  and  other  marks  of  vandalism.  But  Powell's  sailor  painted 
deep,  and  we  voted  unanimously  that  America  was  again  in  the 
ascendant ;   that  whatever  the   American   did   he  excelled   the 

world,  and  that 
in  a  country 
where  you  see 
the  name-writ- 
ing donkey  of 
all  species — 
Greek,  Arab, 
French,  Italian, 
British  —  the 
m  o  n  u  m  ental 
name  -  writing 
donkey   of   the 

age  is  Powell  Tucker  of  New  York.  I  hope  Powell  is  alive,  that 
he  may  enjoy  this  well-earned  fame.  I  would  like  to  see  him — to 
look  at  him — to  see  with  my  own  eyes  a  gentleman  who  could 
wander  through  this  land  of  beauty,  fable,  and  historic  renown — 
this  land  of  temples  and  tombs — and  here,  where  generations  of 
a  forgotten  age  had  in  patient  faith  and  humility  carved  the 
legends  of  their  faith  and  their  history — there,  in  the  sanctuary 
where  the  gods  were  worshiped,  to  have  a  sailor,  with  a  pot  of 
black  paint,  to  smear  his  name  !  Let  us  all  be  proud  of  Tucker. 
In  his  own  department  of  usefulness  as  a  name-writing  donkey 
he  has  given  America  a  conceded  although  scarcely  an  enviable 
renown. 

Assouan  was  to  be  the  end  of  our  journey,  the  turning  point 
of  our  Nile  trip.      Assouan  is  the  frontier  station  of  Old  Egypt, 


ON   THE   NILE. 


ASSOUA.X.  ,0, 

on  the  boundary  of  Nubia.  All  these  days  we  had  been  press- 
ing toward  the  equator,  and  we  began  to  see  the  change. 
Assouan  is  a  pretty  town — to  my  mind  prettier  than  any  I  had 
seen  on  the  Nile.  It  is  difficult  to  make  any  standard  of  com- 
parison among  towns  which  are  nearly  all  hovels,  and,  so  far  as 
scenery  is  concerned,  Nature  in  Egypt  is  in  so  grand  a  phase 
that  she  is  always  winning.  But  there  was  something  about 
Assouan  that  attracted  me.  It  may  have  been  the  grateful 
trees  that  hung  over  the  governor's  palace — you  see  I  call 
every  governor's  house  a  palace — or  it  may  have  been  the  gover- 
nor himself.  This  gentleman  was  a  Nubian — seacoal  black — 
a  tall,  well-formed,  handsome  man,  in  the  latest  Parisian  dress. 
Our  eyes  had  been  feasting  for  so  long  upon  man  in  various  de- 
grees of  nakedness  and  rags  that  this  presence — this  real  pre- 
sence of  embodied  clothes,  kid  gloves,  cashmere  and  cloth,  with 
the  fez  just  tipping  the  left  ear — was  a  sensation.  It  was  like 
a  breath  from  the  boulevards,  although  our  governor  seemed 
uneasy  in  his  clothes,  and  evidently  feared  they  would  be 
soiled.  These  two  early  impressions — the  trees  and  the  gar- 
ments— threw  a  glamour  over  Assouan,  and  now  in  writing,  with 
the  memories  of  the  trip  floating  before  me,  I  find  myself  dwell- 
ing with  comfort  upon  this  pleasant  frontier  Nubian  town. 

Of  Assouan  in  the  way  of  useful  information  it  is  sufficient 
to  say  that  it  is  a  town  of  4,000  inhabitants,  580  miles  south  of 
Cairo,  730  south  of  the  Mediterranean.  It  used  to  be  supposed 
that  the  town  lay  directly  under  the  equator.  In  the  ancient 
days  Assouan  was  a  quarry,  and  here  were  found  the  stones 
which  became  obelisks,  temples,  and  tombs.  Assouan's  history 
is  associated  more  with  Arabian  than  Egyptian  history.  When 
Islam  was  marching  to  conquer  the  world  the  Saracens  made  a 
town  here  and  an  outpost.  When  this  glory  departed  Assouan 
became,  like  most  frontier  towns  in  the  wild  days  of  men,  the 
scene  of  constant  strifes  and  schisms  between  the  Nubian  and 
Egyptian.  There  is  a  place  called  the  Place  of  Martyrs,  Mos- 
lem martyrs,  and  a  mosque  eight  hundred  years  old,  and  many 
Turkish  inscriptions:  "  I  bear  witness  that  there  is  no  God  but 
God;   that  he  has  no  rival,  and  that   Mohammed  is  the  prophet 


3°4 


THE  NILE. 


of  God."  We  did  not  visit  these  places,  and  were  I  am 
afraid  more  interested  in  knowing  that  it  was  at  Assouan  that 
Juvenal  lived  in  banishment.  There  was  no  house  pointed  out 
as  Juvenal's  house,  and  no  tree  as  Juvenal's  tree.  All  of  which 
showed  two  things — lamentable  lack  of  enterprise  on  the  part 
of  Assouan,  and  that  the  priests  took  no  interest  in  Juvenal's 
character  or  deeds. 


In  these  days 
Assouan  flour- 
ishes as  one  of 
the  depots  of 
the  desert  trade. 
Here    the  cara- 

ASSOUAN. 

vans  come  from 
Ethiopia,  and  you  find  traces  of  desert  merchandise  among  the 
bazaars.  We  visited  the  bazaars,  Mrs.  Grant  and  the  writer  do- 
ing some  shopping,  and  Hassan  going  ahead  with  his  stick,  com- 
manding all  loyal  subjects  of  the  Khedive  to  fall  back  and  make 
way  for  the  pilgrims.     There  were  no  bones  and  no  antiquities 


ASSOUAN  BAZAARS.  ,Q1-' 

for  sale  at  Assouan,  a  fact  that  I  note  with  gratitude.  But  there 
was  honest  merchandise  of  a  humble  sort — ostrich  feathers,  ivory, 
gum  arabic,  skins,  ebony  clubs,  silver  rings,  lances,  and  crockery. 
It  was  the  rumor  of  ostrich  feathers  that  carried  us  to  the 
bazaars,  and  soon  we  were  surrounded  by  a  crowd  waving  the 
plumes  in  our  faces.  The  Marquis,  in  his  quiet,  circumspect 
way,  had  purchased  for  me  some  Egyptian  earthenware,  with 
which  I  intend  to  make  a  reputation  as  a  connoisseur  in  the  arts 
when  I  return  to  America,  if  it  is  not  broken.  "  This,"  said  the 
Marquis,  as  he  turned  the  vases  around  and  around  that  I  might 
admire  them,  "  this  is  the  best  thing  for  presents  to  your  friends. 
You  see,  it  don't  cost  too  much,  and  people  will  say  they  have 
what  no  one  else  has,  and  that  is  the  way."  The  Marquis  is 
my  friend  and  a  prudent,  man,  and  does  not  like  to  see  me 
spend  money,  and  in  his  special  acquirement,  namely  the  study 
of  human  nature,  knows  a  million  times  more  than  I  do.  But 
I  told  the  Marquis  that  all  my  friends  were  pious  people 
who  feared  the  Lord,  and  that  I  would  take  them  home  cru- 
cifixes and  rosaries.  I  had  calculated  that  I  could  buy  rosaries 
and  crosses  in  Jerusalem,  made  out  of  the  sacred  olive  tree, 
for  about  a  franc  apiece — that  I  could  have  them  blessed  by  the 
Pope  when  I  came  to  Rome,  and  that  my  friends  would  esteem 
them  more  than  anything  else,  and  that  by  an  expenditure  of 
about  twenty  dollars  I  could  win  a  great  fame  in  New  York,  and 
perhaps  become  a  candidate  for  Congress  in  the  lower  district. 
The  Marquis  is  disposed  to  think  that  people  at  home  would  like 
something  useful,  and  as  to  beads  and  crosses  he  has  philosophi- 
cal views,  which  I  will  not  repeat  lest  I  might  make  a  scandal. 
The  Marquis  thought  they  must  be  queer  people  in  America. 
I  told  him  we  were  a  queer  people,  and  well  worth  visiting. 

What  carried  us  to  the  bazaars  was  the  ostrich  feather. 
This  consummate  plume  of  our  modern  civilization  is  brought 
here  in  caravans  from  the  desert.  The  best  feathers  are  those 
which  come  from  wild  birds — those  trained  and  tamed,  as  in 
Southern  Africa,  giving  out  a  flimsier  and  coarser-fibered  fea- 
ther. I  never  knew  there  was  so  much  in  an  ostrich  feather 
until   1   found  myself  the   silent  partner  of   Mrs.   Grant   in  the 


;o6 


THE  NILE. 


markets  of  Assouan.  I  had  seen  a  good  deal  of  the  feathers, 
especially  in  London,  on  the  signs  of  gentlemen  appointed  to 
sell  needles  and  soap  and  tripe  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and 
had  a  vague  impression  that  the  principal  demand  for  ostrich 
feathers  was  to  make  plumes  for  his  royal  highness.  But  I  soon 
learned  that  there  are  qualities  in  the  ostrich  feather  which  a  mere 

matter-  of-  fact 
writer  of  letters 
and  leading 
articles  had 
never  dreamed 
of.  It  must  be 
so  long  or  so 
short.      It  must 


dangle  grace- 
fully. It  must 
catch  the  sun- 
light and  throw 
out  its  crloss. 
There  should 
always  be  two 
feathers,  one  a 
little  longer 
than  the  other. 
A  white  feather 
— pure  white — 
spotless  like  the 
snow,  is  a  prize. 
Black  feathers 
are  common ; 
and  one  value 
of    white    and 

gray  feathers  is  that  you  can  dye  them.  These  are  some  of 
the  facts  I  learned  as  a  result  of  my  business  experiences  in 
Assouan.  I  also  learned  some  valuable  hints  as  to  the  way  of 
doing  business.  In  our  prosy  country  you  walk  into  a  store, 
you  pay  your  money,  you   pick  up  your  handkerchief  or  New 


BUYING   USTH1CH    FEATHERS. 


AT  THE  BAZAAR.  -n, 

Testament,  or  whatever  it  may  be,  and  walk  away.  You  ask 
no  questions,  and  it  is  very  probable  if  you  did  you  would  have 
no  answers.  The  Arab  merchant  sits  in  his  cubbyhole  smok- 
ing his  pipe.  His  cubbyhole  is  about  six  feet  square  and  two  feet 
from  the  ground.  He  sits  with  his  legs  crossed,  and  sometimes 
he  is  reading  the  Koran.  Here  he  sits  for  hours  and  hours,  un- 
conscious of  the  world,  perhaps  sustained  by  that  fine  Moslem 
precept  which  I  submit  to  friends  at  home  as  a  panacea  for 
bankruptcy,  that  whatever  is  is  the  will  of  God,  and  if  it  is  His 
holy  will  that  no  one  comes  and  buys,  then  blessed  be  God,  the 
only  God,  and  Mohammed  the  prophet  of  God. 

You  come  to  the  bazaar  and  turn  over  his  goods.  The 
merchant  studies  you  over  and  over.  He  calculates  your  power 
of  resistance  as  though  you  were  a  mechanical  force.  If  you 
are  alone  you  become  an  easy  prey.  The  lady  of  our  expe- 
dition was  always  an  easy  prey.  These  people  were  all  so 
poor,  so  ragged,  so  naked,  and  what  they  asked  was  after  all 
so  small,  that  she  was  always  disposed  to  pay  more  than  was 
asked.  But  in  our  bargains  here  we  are  thrown  back  upon 
Hassan's  Arabic.  You  turn  over  your  feathers  and  hold  them 
to  the  light  and  turn  them  over  and  over  again.  Finally  you 
select  a  bunch  and  bid  Hassan  buy  them.  Hassan  picks  them 
up,  lays  them  down  and  picks  them  up  again,  as  though  there 
might  be  worse  feathers,  but  he  had  never  seen  them  ;  that  he 
was  selecting  a  feather  museum  and  wanted  a  few  specimens  of 
the  worst  in  the  world.  The  dealer  calmly  looks  on  at  this 
pantomime.  Hassan  asks  in  a  contemptuous  tone  the  price. 
He  murmurs  the  price — five  or  six  napoleons,  let  us  say. 
"Five  or  six  napoleons  !"  cries  Hassan,  throwing  up  his  hands 
and  eyes,  tossing  the  feathers  at  the  feet  of  the  cross-legged 
Moslem  and  turning  toward  us  with  an  expression  of  rage  and 
wonder  at  the  exorbitance  of  the  price,  and  calling  upon  all 
around  to  witness,  that  he  was  beingr  swindled.  "  Well,  but 
Hassan,"  says  our  lady,  as  she  takes  up  the  rejected  feathers, 
New  York  price  lists  running  in  her  mind,  "  I  don't  think  five 
or  six  napoleons  such  an  exorbitant  price,  for  the  feathers  are 
good  feathers."     You  see  the  poor  merchant  does  look  so  poor, 


*oS 


THE  NILE. 


and  he  cannot  sell  many  feathers  in  Assouan,  and  of  course  he 
has  children,  and  so — and  so. 

But  this  is  the  way  trade  is  ruined,  Hassan  evidently  thinks, 
but  is  too  dutiful  to  say.  So  he  explains  that  they  always 
ask  two  prices,  sometimes  three  or  four,  and  that  if  we  would 
all  o-row  angry  and  throw  down  the  feathers  and  walk  away  after 
him,  the  merchant  would  follow  us  even  to  the  boat,  and  ask  us 

to  name  our  price.     Well, 
we    appreciate     Hassan's 
motives,  but   we  want   to 
buy  the  feathers  and  not 
perform    a    comedy,    and 
the  trade  goes  on,  Hassan 
laboring  under  the  disad- 
vantage  of    our  not  hav- 
ing   acted    as    a    proper 
chorus.      I  have  no  doubt 
that  this  lack    of    proper 
support    cost    us    in    the 
end,     for     our      Moslem 
tradesman   evidently  saw 
that  it  was  God's  will  that 
we  should  buy  the  feath- 
ers.    The  trade  proceeds. 
Hassan  talks  louder  and 
louder,  and  appeals  to  the 
crowd.       As    he    talks   in 
Arabic    we   only    under- 
stand him  as  we  would  a 
pantomime.     Finally   the 
son  of  Islam  asks  what  would  the  gracious  lady  give  ?     "  Well," 
says   Mrs.  Grant,  "I  want  to  give  what  is  right."     We  name 
a  price,  say  four  napoleons.     Then  the  merchant  breaks  into 
a  pantomime.      He  takes  the  feathers  angrily  out  of  our  hands. 
He,  too,  addresses  the  audience— and  by  this  time  there  is  an 
audience— upon  the  feathers.      He  holds  them  up  and  droops 
them  into  a  waving  dainty  plume.      "  Look  at  them  !     See  how 


BUYING    OSTRICH  FEATHERS.  -,nr. 

they  shine  !  Look  at  their  tints — white  and  gray  and  black  ! 
Such  feathers  were  never  seen  in  Assouan  ;  they  came  from  the 
far  desert ;  they  would  be  cheap  at  a  hundred  napoleons."  We 
suggest  to  Hassan  after  this  address  that  we  might  as  well  go 
elsewhere;  that  a  faith  so  firmly  fixed  would  not  move.  "Wait 
a  little,"  Hassan  says,  "  he  will  take  the  four  napoleons,  and 
would  take  three  if  we  had  offered  them."  So  the  debate  eoes 
on  in  fury,  the  anger  increasing,  until  Hassan  says  four  napo- 
leons will  buy  the  feathers.  We  pay  the  money  and  go  to  the 
boat  with  our  plumes.  When  we  thank  Hassan  for  his  services 
he  intimates  that  if  we  had  let  him  alone  he  would  have  boueht 
them  for  two  napoleons. 

But  you  must  not  suppose  that  we  came  to  Assouan  to  buy 
ostrich  feathers.  I  have  told  this  story  because  it  illustrates 
the  manner  in  which  all  the  Egyptian  trade  is  conducted,  and 
we  have  had  many  experiences  like  this  at  Assouan.  We  note 
that  the  aspect  of  the  tour  changes.  We  see  the  Nubian  type, 
the  predominance  of  the  negro.  The  people  seem  happy 
enough.  They  are  sparing  of  clothes,  live  on  sugarcane  and 
lie  in  the  sun,  a  happy,  laughing,  idle,  dirty,  good-humored  race. 
By  this  time  the  want  of  clothes  has  become  familiar,  and  we 
understand  why  cotton  industry  does  not  flourish  in  Ecrypt. 
The  people  have  no  use  for  cotton.  The  morning  comes,  and 
we  are  to  go  to  Philse — "  beautiful  Philae,"  as  Brugsch  calls  it, 
and  the  first  cataract. 

It  was  very  warm  when  we  gathered  under  the  trees  to  make 
ready  for  our  journey.  Sami  Bey  had  hurried  us,  and  the  Gene- 
ral was,  as  he  always  is,  the  first  at  the  post.  The  governor 
was  there,  and  there  was  a  suspicion,  his  clothes  looked  so  neat 
and  without  wrinkles,  that  he  had  sat  up  all  night  to  keep  them 
nice.  He  brought  the  General  a  dispatch  from  Gordon  Pacha, 
the  famous  English  officer  who  has  been  made  Governor  Gene- 
ral of  the  Provinces  of  the  Equator  by  the  Khedive,  and  who 
is  now  at  Khartoun.  But  we  are  just  within  his  provinces,  and 
he  sends  his  message  of  welcome,  one  great  soldier  greeting 
another.  The  General  returns  his  thanks  and  we  mount.  The 
General   is  in  luck  this  morning.     The  governor  has  provided 


,IO  THE  NILE. 

him  with  an  Arabian  steed — one  of  the  animals  about  which 
poets  write.  This  horse  was  worthy  of  a  poem,  and  the  Gene- 
ral expresses  his  admiration  at  its  lines  and  paces,  saying  he 
had  never  seen  a  better  horse.  Its  trappings  are  regal,  and  a 
smile  of  satisfaction  breaks  over  the  General's  face  as  he  gathers 
the  reins  in  his  hand  and  feels  the  throbbing  of  his  animal's 
flanks.  Sami  Bey  suggests  that  perhaps  the  General  should 
pace  the  horse  up  and  down,  with  an  attendant  to  hold  him,  to 
see  if  he  is  perfectly  safe  and  comfortable. 

Now,  Sami  Bey  is  as  good  a  soul  as  ever  lived,  and  always 
trying  to  make  everything  pleasant,  and  while  he  is  sure  about 
donkeys,  has  doubts  about  this  splendid  prancing  steed.  But 
our  General  is  famous  as  a  horseman  in  a  land  famous  for 
horsemanship,  and  smilingly  says:  "  If  I  can  mount  a  horse  I 
can  ride  him,  and  all  the  attendants  can  do  is  to  keep  away." 
We  set  out  in  procession,  our  little  trailing  army  in  its  usual 
order  of  march.  The  General  ahead,  Mrs.  Grant  at  his  side  or 
near  him,  securely  mounted  on  her  donkey,  the  Marquis  and 
Hassan  near  her,  should  evil  fall.  We  come  after,  taking  the 
pace  our  donkey  gives  us,  having  learned  how  wise  it  is  to  have 
no  controversy  with  that  useful  and  wise  being,  especially  upon 
a  theme  he  knows  so  well,  the  holes,  and  ditches,  and  yielding 
sands  of  Egypt.  "  Now  you  will  see,"  says  Brugsch,  "  how 
beautiful  the  island  of  Philoe  is  ;  how  it  nestles  in  the  trees,  and 
how  the  temple  stands  out  amid  the  crags  and  hills,  as  though 
nature  had  been  the  architect,  not  man."  Then  he  told  us  that 
Philae  was  quite  a  modern  place — that  the  ruins  were  not  more 
than  two  thousand  years  old,  and  that  much  of  the  sculpture  was 
the  work  of  the  later  Roman  emperors,  when  those  slovenly 
princes  were  the  masters  of  Egypt.  This  was  all  the  history 
connected  with  Philae,  although  no  doubt  a  temple  had  been 
built  in  the  early  days  and  destroyed,  and  the  one  we  were  to 
visit  was  on  its  site.  As  Philae  was  on  the  borders  of  Ethiopia, 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  granite  quarries  which  supplied  the 
old  monarchs  with  all  the  stone  for  their  monuments,  it  must 
have  always  been  an  important  point.  It  was  the  pass  through 
which  the  old  invading  armies  of  the  kings  passed  when  they 


PHILAE. 


1  I 


invaded  Ethiopia  and  brought  home  the  prisoners  whose  negro 
lineaments  we  have  seen  traced  on  the  monuments  elsewhere. 

But  very  soon  Brugsch  came  to  us  in  sorrow,  and  said  that 
we  were  not  to  see  Philae  among  the  trees,  nestling  in  the  crags 
— to  see  it  from  afar,  and  journey  toward  it  as  a  temple  of 
beauty.  The  governor  had  gone  on,  and  taken  another  road 
among  the  abandoned  quarries  and  tombs,  and  we  saw  nothing 
but  rocks  and  hills,  gigantic  masses  of  granite  heaped  on  the 
plain  in  the  volcanic  time.  Well,  we  had  been  seeing  so  much 
sand,  and  clay,  and  limestone  rock,  we  had  become  so  weary — 
no,  I  will  not  say  weary,  but 
so  accustomed  to  the  low,  slop- 
ing river,  that  it  was  like  a 
glimpse  of  home  to  have  the 
granite  bowlders  throwing: 
their  shadows  over  your  path 
and  sometimes  losing  it,  so 
that  you  had  to  keep  a  wary 
eye  to  prevent  your  limbs 
being  bruised  by  the  jagged 
stones.  It  looked  like  a  bit 
of  New  England  tossed  into 
this  Nile  plain.  The  sun  was 
beating  with  his  flaming  fury, 
and  all  that  was  left  to  the 
jaded  traveler  was  to  draw  the  folds  of 
the  silk  over  his  brow  and  face,  and  jog 
on.  It  was  the  warmest  day  we  had 
known,  in  a  land  where  we  have  known 
only  summer  days.  To  my  mind  the  granite  plain 
as  we  advanced  to  Philae  was  full  of  interest.  I  thought  of 
the  ancient  civilization  of  Egypt  in  its  most  repellent  and 
selfish  form.  It  was  here  that  the  Egyptians  were  dragged, 
generation  after  generation,  to  dig  out  monstrous  stones  and 
move  them  down  the  river  to  do  honor  to  the  kings.  For  cen- 
turies the  work  continued — the  most  selfish  work,  I  take  it,  ever 
ordained  by  a  king.      For  centuries   it   went   on — Cheops  this 


IN    THE    REEDS 


312 


THE  NILE. 


age,  Abydos  the  age  after  ;  Karnak  requiring  twenty  centuries 
alone.  Here  was  the  scene  of  their  toil.  Here  the  taskmaster 
carried  out  the  orders  of  the  king  and  forced  the  uncomplaining 
slave.  I  can  well  understand  the  horror  with  which  the  Israelites 
regarded  Egyptian  bondage  if  they  ever  came  to  Assouan  to 
dig  stones  for  a  kingly  tomb.  I  have  no  doubt  they  did  their 
share  of  the  work,  and  that  over  this  sandy,  rocky  plain  they 
trudged  their  weary  road  from  year  to  year,  their  hearts  fixed 
on  the  Holy  Land,  waiting  for  the  hour  when  God  would  put 
it  into  Pharaoh's  heart  to  send  them  out  of  the  house  of  bond- 
age. The  glory  of  that  dead  civilization  quite  faded  away,  and 
I  thought  only  of  its  selfishness,  of  its  barrenness,  and  it  seemed 
only  a  fit  retribution  that  the  monuments  which  were  to  com- 
memorate for  ages  the  ever-increasing  glory  of  the  kings  should 
be  given  over  to  the  Arabs  and  the  bats,  should  teach  no  lesson 
so  plainly  as  the  utter  vanity  of  human  pride  and  power. 

But  no — we  are  not  iconoclasts — and  let  us  not  in  one  im- 
patient moment,  one  moment  of  sympathy  for  the  beaten  races, 
throw  aside  the  magnificence  of  the  old  civilization.  It  was 
something  after  all  to  have  made  a  poem.  This  we  say,  for  we 
have  passed  the  granite  gorge,  and,  throwing  the  silk  over  the 
brow,  we  note  that  we  are  on  the  river  bank,  and  that  here  at 
last  is  nestling,  beautiful  Philse,  beautiful  as  a  poem.  And 
Brugsch  is  looking  on  with  beaming  eyes,  for  he  loves  Philce 
with  a  scholar's  love,  and  has  written  a  book  about  it,  and  the 
other  evening,  when  talk  ran  dry  and  we  were  each  saying  what 
we  would  do  if  we  had  the  possessions  of  the  late  Mr.  Vander- 
bilt,  he  said  he  would  buy  Philae  and  repair  the  temple  and 
plant  the  island  with  trees,  and  there  live  the  remainder  of  his 
days.  Well,  if  I  had  the  possessions  of  the  departed  railway 
king,  there  are  two  things  I  would  not  do.  I  would  not  write 
for  newspapers,  except  to  enunciate  great  principles  in  the  crisis 
of  the  nation's  fate,  and  I  would  not  buy  Philse.  But  I  like 
enthusiasm  wherever  I  find  it  of  the  genuine  quality,  for  it  is 
the  Alpine  air  of  this  misty,  foggy  work-a-day  world,  and, 
as  I  said,  Egypt  has  been  worshiped  by  our  friend  with  a 
scholar's  love.     So  we  rode  aloncr  the  bank  and  dismounted, 


& 


PHIL/E. 


Ol  5 


and  embarked  on  a  dahabeeah,  which  was  to  ferry  us  over.  This 
dahabeeah  is  under  the  control  of  a  sheik,  whose  duty  is  to  carry 
vessels  up  and  down  the  cataracts.  For  seventy  years,  man  and 
boy,  he  has  done  this  work,  and  as  he  stood  by  the  rail  looking 
on,  his  turbaned  head,  his  swarthy  face  tinged  with  gray,  and 
his  flowing  robes,  he  looked  handsome  and  venerable.  He  had 
twenty-five  of  a  crew,  including  the  children.  There  was  a 
minor  character  in  baggy  clothes  who 
gave  orders,  but  the  old  man  was  a 
moral  influence,  and  he  watched  every 


->--T»F 


phase  and  ripple  of  the  stream. 
I  should  like  to  have  interviewed 
the  sheik.  A  man  who  has  spent 
seventy  years  in  these  Nubian 
solitudes,  striving  with  a  mad,  ec- 
centric river,  must  have  thoueht 
well  on  many  grave  problems, 
tongues  do  not  include  Arabic 
we  are  now  moving  along  the  stream,  and  wayward  currents  en- 
compass us,  and  the\  sheik  is  no  longer  a  mere  moral  influence, 
but  an  active  power.  He  shouts  and  gesticulates,  and  the  crew 
all  shout  in  a  chorus,  ending  with  an  odd  refrain,  something 
like  a  prolonged  moan.  It  is  quite  stirring,  this  strife  with  the 
currents;   and,    although   the    sun    beats  with   all   of  his  power 


But  my  resources  in  strange 
and   so   I  am  debarred.      But 


2  T  ,  THE  NILE. 

upon  us,  we  stand  upon  the  deck  and  watch.  The  General 
expresses  his  admiration  of  the  seamanship  of  the  Arabs — an 
admiration  which  is  justified  by  the  manner  in  which,  surging 
through  the  perils  of  the  stream,  we  nestle  under  the  temple 
walls  of  Philae. 

We  land,  not  without  an  effort,  and  climb  into  the  ruin. 
Philae  is  not  specially  interesting  as  a  temple  after  you  have 
seen  Thebes  and  Abydos.  I  can  think  of  nothing  useful  to  say 
about  it  except  that  as  a  ruin  it  is  picturesque.  Nature  comes  as 
an  aid.  The  temples  we  have  been  visiting  have  been  mainly 
in  the  sand,  on  the  desert.  But  here  we  are  in  volcanic  regions. 
Around  us  are  piles  of  granite  rock.  The  island  is  green  and 
the  date  palms  salute  us  as  we  pass.  There  are  flowers,  and, 
instead  of  bulging  and  sliding  through  sand,  we  step  trippingly 
over  stones  and  turf.  In  the  sanctuary  we  note  three  young 
Germans  eating  lunch.  We  pass  to  the  other  bank  to  see  the 
cataract.  This  is  one  of  the  features  of  the  Nile.  The  river 
here  spreads  into  various  channels  and  runs  over  rocks.  One 
channel  is  used  for  vessels  ascending  the  stream,  the  other  for 
vessels  descending  the  stream.  The  one  before  us  is  not 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long.  The  river  is  narrow, 
the  banks  are  steep,  and  the  stream  rolls  and  dashes  like  a  sea, 
the  waves  lashine  the  banks  and  roaring.  I  should  call  the 
cataract  simply  a  narrow,  heavy  sea.  The  danger  in  navigating 
is  from  the  rocks  and  being  dashed  against  the  banks.  It  is  a 
relief,  fresh  from  five  hundred  miles  of  easy,  placid  sailing,  the 
river  as  smooth  as  a  pond,  to  see  it  in  this  angry  mood.  While 
we  are  here  we  note  men  swimming  toward  us,  each  man  on  a 
log  with  a  garment  tied  to  the  head.  They  are  natives  who 
propose  to  run  the  rapids  for  our  amusement.  They  swim,  or 
rather  hold  on  to  a  log  and  propel  themselves  into  the  current. 
It  is  hazardous  enough,  for  the  current  sweeps  like  a  torrent, 
and  the  least  want  of  nerve  would  dash  the  swimmer  against 
the  rocks.  But  they  go  through  bravely  enough  and  come  out 
into  the  smooth  water  below.  Each  swimmer,  carrying  his  log 
on  his  shoulder  and  drawing  his  single  garment  around  his 
shivering  loins,  comes  for  baksheesh.      Hassan   makes  the  pay- 


MEMPHIS.  ,  T  c 

ments,  but  the  crowd  becomes  clamorous  and  aggressive,  and 
would  probably  carry  off  Hassan,  bag  and  all,  but  for  the 
governor,  who  restores  order  with  his  stick.  We  return  to  our 
donkeys,  having  had  an  interesting  but  rather  wearying  day. 
And  in  the  morning,  before  we  are  up,  our  boat  has  turned  its 
prow  and  we  are  going  home. 

On  our  way  home  we  stopped  long  enough  to  allow  all  of 
the  party  but  Sami  Bey  and  the  writer  to  visit  the  tombs 
of  the  kings.  I  had  letters  to  write,  and  we  were  running 
swiftly  toward  mails  and  mailing  distance  from  New  York. 
We  stopped  over  night  at  Keneh,  and  saw  our  old  friend  the 
governor,  who  came  down  on  his  donkey  and  drank  a  cup  of 
coffee.  We  stopped  an  hour  at  Siout,  and  two  of  our  mission- 
ary friends  came  on  board  and  told  us  the  news  from  the  war 
and  from  home.  We  gathered  around  them  in  anxious  wonder, 
hearing  how  Adrianople  had  fallen,  how  Derby  had  resigned, 
and  how  England  was  to  go  armed  into  the  European  confer- 
ence. "  I  begin  to  think  now,"  said  the  General,  "for  the  first 
time,  that  England  may  go  in."  Some  one  proposes  laughingly 
that  the  General,  who  is  on  his  way  to  Turkey,  should  offer  the 
Sultan  his  services.  "  No,"  he  said,  "  I  have  done  all  the  fight- 
ing I  care  to  do,  and  the  only  country  I  ever  shall  fight  for  is 
the  United  States."  On  the  3d  of  February  we  reached  Mem- 
phis. The  minarets  of  Cairo  were  in  sight,  and  we  found 
General  Stone  waiting  for  us  with  a  relay  of  attendants  and 
donkey-boys  from  Cairo.  We  were  all  glad  to  see  our  amiable 
and  accomplished  friends,  and  we  had  another  shower  of  news, 
which  came,  to  use  a  figure  that  is  not  quite  original,  like  rain 
upon  the  sandy  soil.  We  mounted  for  our  last  sight-seeing 
ride  on  the  Nile,  to  visit  the  ruins  of  Memphis  and  the  tomb  of 
the  sacred  bulls. 

It  was  believed  in  the  Egyptian  mythology  that  the  god 
Osiris  came  to  earth  and  allowed  himself  to  be  put  to  death  in 
order  that  the  souls  of  the  people  might  be  saved.  After  his 
death  there  was  a  resurrection,  and  the  immortal  part  of  him 
passed  into  a  bull — called  Apis.  The  bull  could  only  be  known 
by  certain  signs  written    in  the  sacred  books  and  kept  by  tra- 


,j6  THE  NILE. 

dition.  These  signs  were  known  to  the  priests.  When  they 
found  the  calf  bearing-  these  marks  he  was  fed  for  four  months 
on  milk  in  a  house  facing  the  rising  sun.  He  was  then  brought 
to  Memphis  and  lodged  in  a  palace,  and  worshiped  with  divine 
honors.  The  people  came  to  him  as  an  oracle.  When  he 
passed  through  the  town  he  was  escorted  with  pomp,  children 
singing  hymns  in  his  honor.  The  greatest  care  was  taken  of 
his  life.  At  the  end  of  twenty-five  years,  unless  natural  causes 
intervened,  the  reign  of  Apis  came  to  an  end.  Another  calf 
was  found  bearing-  the  sacred  signs.  The  bull  was  marched  to 
the  fountain  of  the  priests  and  drowned  with  ceremony.  He 
was  embalmed  and  buried  in  the  tombs  which  we  visited  at 
Memphis.  Our  ride  to  Memphis  was  a  pleasant  one,  a  part  of 
it  being  through  the  desert.  We  passed  close  to  the  pyramid 
of  Memphis,  which  is  only  an  irregular,  zigzag  mass  of  stones. 
Brugsch  tells  us  it  is  very  old,  but  with  no  especial  historical 
value.  The  ruins  of  Memphis  are  two  or  three  tombs,  and  the 
serapeum  or  mausoleum  of  the  sacred  bulls.  One  of  the  tombs 
was  opened,  and  we  went  through  it,  noting,  as  we  had  so  often 
before,  the  minuteness  and  care  of  the  decoration.  There  were 
other  tombs,  but  to  prevent  the  modern  travelers  from  breaking 
them  to  pieces  they  were  covered  with  sand.  What  a  comment 
upon  our  civilization  that  Egypt  can  only  preserve  her  tombs 
and  monuments  from  Christian  vandals  by  burying  them ! 

We  then  made  our  way  to  the  serapeum.  While  on  our 
journey  we  heard  the  story  of  the  discovery  of  this  remarkable 
monument.  Mariette  Bey,  who  still  serves  the  Khedive,  was 
directing  excavations,  and  especially  at  Memphis.  He  had 
long  believed  that  the  tomb  of  the  bulls  could  be  found.  So 
here  he  came  and  lived,  working  in  the  sand  for  two  or  three 
years,  with  a  blind  faith  in  his  theory.  You  cannot  imagine 
anything  more  unsatisfactory  or  discouraging  than  this  dig- 
ging in  the  sand.  In  an  hour  or  a  day  a  wind  may  come  up 
and  undo  the  work  of  months.  Mariette  Bey  had  his  own 
discouragements,  but  he  kept  courageously  on,  and  was  re- 
warded by  the  discovery  of  the  most  important  of  the  Egyptian 
monuments.     We  heard  this  story  as  we  groped  our  way  down 


THE  SERAPEUM.  ,  ,  - 

to  the  tombs.  We  entered  a  long  arched  passage  with  parallel 
passages.  Candles  had  been  placed  at  various  points.  On 
each  side  of  this  passage  were  the  tombs.  Each  tomb  was  in 
its  alcove.  The  bull  was  placed  in  a  huge  granite  sarcopha- 
gus, the  surface  finely  polished  and  covered  with  inscriptions. 
These  coffins  were  stupendous,  and  it  is  a  marvel  how  such  a 
mass  of  granite  could  have  been  moved  through  this  narrow 
channel  and  into  these  arches.      We  lit  a  magnesium  wire  and 


THE   5ERAPEI  M. 


examined  one  or  two  very  carefully.  The  tombs  had  all  been 
violated  by  the  early  conquerors,  Persians  and  Arabs,  to  find 
gold  and  silver.  In  most  cases  the  cover  had  been  shoved 
aside  enough  to  allow  a  man  to  enter.  In  others  the  sides 
had  been  broken  in.  The  inside  was  so  large  that  four  of 
our  party  climbed  up  a  ladder  and  descended.  There  was 
room  for  three  or  four  more.  There  were  tombs  enough 
to  show  that  the  bull  had  been  worshiped  for  centuries. 
When  we  finished  this  study  we  rode  back  to  our  boat.  The 
sun  was  going  down  as  we   set   out   on   our  return,  and  as  we 


;i8 


THE  NILE. 


were  passing  through  a  fertile  bit  of  Egypt — a  part  not  affected 
by  the  bad  Nile — the  journey  was  unusually  pleasant.  After 
the  parched  fields  and  sandy  stretches  of  the  Upper  Nile,  it 
was  grateful  to  bathe  in  the  greenery  of  this  Memphis  plain,  to 
see  the  minarets  of  Cairo  in  the  distance,  to  feel  that  we  were 
coming  back  to  a  new  civilization.  The  sky  lit  up  with  the 
rosiest  tints,  one  mass  of  the  softest  rose  and  pink — a  vast 
dome  glowing  with  color — starless,  cloudless,  sunless,  it  was  that 


DRIVE   WITH   THE   KHEDIVE. 


brief  twilight  hour,  which  we  have  seen  so  often  on  the  Nile, 
and  the  memory  of  which  becomes  a  dream.  I  have  seen  no 
sky  so  beautiful  as  that  which  came  to  us  when  we  bade  fare- 
well to  Memphis.  We  reached  our  boat  and  gave  the  night  to 
preparations  for  landing. 

It  is  hard  to  do  anything  for  the  last  time,  and  notwithstand- 
ing we  were  all  very  busily  engaged  collecting  and  packing  the 
various  articles  of  our  wardrobe,  as  well  as  the  numerous  me- 
mentoes of  our  journey,  I  am  quite  sure  all  felt  a  little  sad  over 
the  close  of  what  had  been  a  brief  and  joyous  experience 
through  this  wonderful  land  of  the  sun. 


CAIRO.  „  Tn 

We  had  seen  the  Nile  for  a  thousand  miles  from  its  mouth, 
with  no  want  of  either  comfort  or  luxury,  and  had  made  the 
trip  much  more  rapidly  than  is  the  custom;  as  Sami  Bey  re- 
marked, it  had  been  the  most  rapid  trip  he  had  ever  known. 
Now,  when  there  was  no  help  for  it,  we  began  to  wish  we  had 
seen  more  of  Denderah,  and  had  not  been  content  with  so 
hurried  a  visit  to  Karnak — Karnak,  the  grandest  and  most  im- 
posing ruin  in  the  world.  But,  you  see,  we  have  letters  to  read 
from  dear  ones  at  home,  and  we  have  come  to  feel  the  world 
again,  and  we  can  think  with  more  content  of  our  experiences, 
now  that  our  hunger  for  news  has  been  appeased.  So  we  pack 
up,  and  in  the  morning  we  steam  down  to  Cairo.  The  General 
sent  for  the  captain,  and  thanked  him  and  made  him  a  hand- 
some present.  He  also  distributed  presents  to  all  on  the  boat, 
including  the  crew.  About  twelve  we  passed  the  bridge  and 
moored  at  the  wharf.  Our  "  Vandalia "  friends  hurried  to 
Alexandria  to  join  their  ship  ;  those  who  had  homes  found 
them,  while  the  General  and  party  returned  to  the  palace  of 
Kassr-el-Noussa. 

Here  we  were  again  received  and  welcomed  by  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Khedive.  We  remained  in  Cairo  for  a  few 
days,  making  many  interesting  excursions  and  visits,  and  enjoy- 
ing the  continued  hospitality  of  the  Khedive. 

Bidding  adieu  to  our  o-ood  friends  at  Cairo,  we  started  for 
Port  Said,  and  arrived  on  the  9th  of  February.  Port  Said 
seems  quite  modern  after  our  journey  into  Upper  Egypt.  It 
is  laid  out  in  streets  and  squares,  and  is  not  unlike  an  American 
town  ;  has  a  population  of  about  ten  thousand,  among  whom 
are  many  Germans  and  Italians.  It  is  quite  a  busy  place,  the 
repairing  of  shipping  and  the  coaling  of  vessels  being  the  prin- 
cipal occupations  of  the  people.  We  walked  through  its  sandy 
streets,  under  a  burning  sun,  on  our  way  to  the  house  of  the 
consul,  where  we  were  to  dine  and  rest.  In  the  afternoon  we 
were  most  heartily  welcomed  by  our  naval  friends  of  the 
"  Vandalia,"  the  good  ship  having  come  from  Alexandria  to 
meet  us.  We  embark,  being  very  glad — notwithstanding  the 
pleasant  memories  of  our  trip  up  the   Nile — to  get  back  once 


„0  THE  NILE. 

more  under  the  protecting  folds  of  that  flag  which  speaks  of 
home,  and  this  feeling  of  comfort  and  satisfaction  is  heightened 
by  the  thought  that  we  are  to  start  this  evening  for  the  Holy 
Land,  expecting  to  arrive,  wind  and  wave  permitting,  at  Jaffa 
on  the  morrow. 


CHAPTER    XL 


THE    HOLY    LAND. 


rian  skies. 


E  left  Port  Said  as  the  afternoon  shadows  were 
lengthening,  and  went  out  into  the  open  seas  with 
some  misgivings.  The  weather  had  been  stormy,  and 
heavy  dark  clouds  were  banking  up  against  the  Sy- 
A  visit  to  Palestine  depends  altogether  upon  the 
weather,  for  there  are  no  harbors  on  the  coast,  and  Jaffa,  where 
we  were  to  land,  is  an  open  roadstead  difficult  to  enter  even  in 
the  best  of  weather.  There  was  some  anxiety  during  the  night 
as  to  whether  we  could  land  at  all,  and  unless  Jaffa  proved  to 
be  in  a  hospitable  mood,  we  should  have  to  abandon  the  Syrian 
coast  and  steam  toward  Smyrna.  The  idea  of  a  visit  to  the 
East  without  setting  our  feet  on  the  Holy  Land  was  not  to  be 
endured,  and  when  Strong,  who  was  the  officer  of  the  ship 
especially  in  charge  of  the  weather,  reported  in  his  quiet  sen- 


21. 


322 


THE  HOLY  LAND. 


tentious  way,  late  in  the  evening,  that  the  clouds  were  vanish- 
ing, that  we  should  see  the  Palestine  shores  shortly  after  dawn, 
and  see  them  in  a  clear  sea,  there  was  a  general  feeling  of  satis- 
faction. We  had  been  doing  a  good  deal  of  Bible  reading  and 
revision  of  our  Testaments,  to  be  sure  of  our  sacred  ground, 
and  when  after  breakfast  we  came  on  deck  and  saw  the  low 
brown  shore  of  Palestine,  we  looked  upon  it  with  reverence, 
and  our  gratitude  was  abundant  when  we  also  saw  that  the 
ocean  beneath  was  as  calm  as  a  millpond,  and  knew  that  it  was 
easy  to  land. 


FISHERMEN    OF  JAFFA. 


We  steamed  slowly  toward  the  shore,  watching  every  line 
and  feature  of  the  coast  as  it  came  into  view.  Jaffa  welcomed 
us  from  her  hilly  seat.  She  seemed  an  overpacked  town, 
thrown  upon  the  sea-shore.  But  even  Jaffa  has  now  a  noble 
place  in  the  world's  history,  for  her  fame  was  green  long  before 
Europe  felt  the  touch  of  civilization.  At  her  wharves  Solomon 
gathered  his  cedars  from  Lebanon.  From  her  shores  Simon 
Peter  embarked  when  he  went  out  to  preach  Christ  and  his 
crucifixion  to  the  world.  When  we  were  told  that  the  morn- 
ing we  arrived  was  the  only  morning  for  weeks  that  had  known 
a  calm  sea,  there  was  no  disposition  to  murmur  at  the  rain,  which 


ARRIVAL   AT  JAFFA. 


323 


came  in  soft-flowing  showers.  Mr.  Hardegg,  our  consul,  came 
on  board.  Mr.  Hardegg  is  an  American  citizen  of  German 
descent,  who  came  to  Palestine  under  the  inspiration  of  a  reli- 
gious conviction  that  it  was  necessary  for  Christian  people  to 
occupy  the  Holy  Land.  This  enterprise  did  not  flourish,  and 
Mr.  Hardegg  devoted  himself  to  hotel  keeping,  and  gave  us 
welcome  to  one  of  the  most  pleasant  hotels  in  the  East.  About 
eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  landed.  The  Turkish  Govern- 
ment for  the  cost  of  one  of  the  Constantinople  palaces  could 
make  a  comfortable  and  safe  harbor,  but  this  is  not  Turkish 
policy,  and  among  the  theories  which  animate  this  strange  peo- 
ple is  that  the  surest  way  to  protect  a  coast  like  that  of  Syria  is 
to  make  access  dangerous.  The  shore  is  marked  by  a  series 
of  jagged  irregular  rocks,  against  which  the  breakers  dash,  and 
it  requires  all  the  expertness  of  practiced  boatmen  to  shoot 
between  them.  We  were  taken  on  the  "Vandalia's"  boat,  the 
crew  pulling  their  measured  stately  stroke.  I  would  much  ra- 
ther, in  a  sea,  trust  myself  to  the  Arab  boatmen,  who  wab- 
ble about  their  huge  clumsy  boats  with  a  skill  which  does  not 
belong  to  man-of-war  discipline.  But  we  shot  through  the 
rocks,  and  came  to  the  greasy  stone  steps,  which  were  filled 
with  howling  Arabs.  There  was  some  difficulty  in  making  our 
way  through  the  greasy  mob,  and  Mr.  Hardegg  was  compelled 
to  address  them  in  tones  of  authority  and  menace  ;  but  in  time 
we  made  our  entrance,  and  walked  into  Jaffa  through  one  of 
the  dirtiest  streets  in  the  world. 

Our  home  with  Mr.  Hardegg  was  in  the  suburbs  of  the  town. 
The  rain  had  increased  the  discomforts  of  the  street.  But  the 
sensation  of  being  on  the  holy  soil  of  Palestine,  of  walking 
under  the  walls  of  a  town  sacred  to  all  who  believe  in  Christian 
teachings,  made  us  think  lightly  of  the  mud  through  which 
we  trudg-ed.  The  consul  lives  in  a  little  settlement  that  looks 
like  one  of  our  Western  railway  towns.  Here  was  the  Kansas 
order  of  architecture,  which  was  homelike  in  its  homeliness. 
These  houses  are  all  that  remain  of  a  movement  that  took  its 
rise  in  New  England  some  years  ago,  a  movement  based  upon 
the  belief  that  the  way  to  follow  Christ  was  to  come  and  occupy 


3^4 


THE  HOL  Y  LAND. 


Palestine.  The  Bible  is  sprinkled  with  texts  that  justified  this 
enterprise,  and  our  New  England  friends  came  and  camped  in 
Jaffa.  They  built  houses,  planted  orange  trees,  and  one  would 
suppose  that  upon  soil  so  fertile  and  in  a  climate  so  mild  there 
would  have  been  a  practical  success — the  achievement  of  mate- 
rial benefits  something  like  what  the  Mormons  achieved  in  Utah. 
But  the  colony  did  not  thrive.  There  is  something  in  Turkish 
rule  that  would  stifle  even  New  Enaland  thrift,  and  those  in 
charge  of  the  colony  seem  to  have  been  dreamy  and  light-headed 

— lacking  in  the  strong,  mighty 
governing  sense  which  enabled 
Brio-ham  Younaf  to  turn  his 
wilderness  into  a  garden. 
Having  come  all  the  way  to 
Palestine  to  see  the  second 
coming  of  our  Lord,  our 
feather-brained  fellow  country- 
men thought  that  it  would  do 
no  harm  to  sit  down  and  wait, 


MiH   V     -III 


feeling  that  there  would  be 
money  enough  for  all  expenses 
when  the  Lord  did  come.  So 
the  movement  went  into  bank- 
ruptcy, poverty,  want,  almost 
starvation  ;  and  our  Govern- 
ment had  to  reach  out  its  arms 
and  bring  the  wandering 
saints  home  again.  One  or  two  of  the  original  members  of 
the  colony  still  live  here.  Mr.  Floyd,  whom  we  were  after- 
ward to  know  as  our  guide  in  Jerusalem,  an  active  and  in- 
telligent man,  keeps  his  house  and  manages  tourist  parties 
through  the  Holy  Land.  But  the  movement  has  vanished,  and 
all  that  remain  are  a  few  wooden  houses  with  a  familiar  New 
England  look,  and  some  groves  of  orange  trees,  which  were  in 
full  leaf  and  fruit,  and  brightened  up  with  an  imperial  coloring 
the  landscape  under  our  chamber  windows. 

We   made  a  pilgrimage  through  the  mud   and  the  narrow, 


JAFFA.  ,,. 

dingy  streets,  to  the  house  of  Simon  the  Tanner.      On  our  way 
we  noticed   that  Jaffa  had  put  on  a  little  finery  in  the  way  of 
ribbons   and   flays   and   wreaths    in   honor   of   General   Grant's 
coming.      There  was  an   archway,  and  an   inscription   over  it, 
"  Welcome  General  Grant."     There  was  a  large  tent,  called  the 
headquarters   of  tourist   expeditions   through    the   Holy   Land. 
The  proprietor  was  at  the  door  in  a  state  of  enthusiasm,  and 
gave  us  three  cheers  all  by  himself  as  we  passed  along,  and 
wanted  us  to  come  in  and  drink  champagne.      He  informed  us 
that  he  was  the  most  celebrated  dragoman  in  the  East,  and  that 
if  we  did  not  wish  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  Bedouins,  we  should 
patronize  him  and  not  the  concern  over  the  way.      So  you  see 
how  this  commercial  age  has  carried  its  spirit  of  emulation  into 
the  Holy  Land.      We  passed  through  narrow  streets  and  down 
slippery  stone  steps  over  a  zigzag  route,  until  we  came  to  a  low 
stone  house.      This  we  were  told  was  the  house  of  Simon  the 
Tanner.     You    know   the    story   of  Tabitha,  by  interpretation 
called   Dorcas,  the  woman   full  of  good  works  and  alms-deeds; 
how  she  became  ill  and  died,  and  how  Peter  knelt  down  and 
prayed,  and  turning  to  the  body  bade  Tabitha  to  rise,  and  how 
she  rose  again,  and  many  believed  in  the  Lord.      We  enter  the 
house  and  see  an  Arab  woman  grinding  corn.     We  go  up  a 
narrow  stone  stairs  on  the  outside  of  the  house,  and  come  to  the 
roof,  a  walled  roof  paved  with  stone.      Here  Simon  the  Tanner 
and   Peter  his  friend  would  sit  and  take  the  air,  and  look  out 
upon  the  sea,  that  rolled  beneath  them  even  as  we  behold  it 
now,  and  talk  no   doubt  of  the  many  wonders  that   had   been 
seen  in  Jerusalem.      It  was  on  this  housetop  where   Peter  came 
to  pray,  and  where  being  hungry  he   fell  into  a  trance,  and  saw 
the  vision  recorded  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  of  the  vessel 
descending  from  the   heavens  with  all  manner   of  beasts   and 
creeping  things  and  fowls  of  the  air.      From   this  house  came 
that  fine  gospel  truth,  the  finest  of  all  political  truths,  that  God 
is  no  respecter  of  persons.     Tradition  at  least  assigns  this  as 
the  house,  and  it  is  as  well  not  to  challenge  your  traditions,  but 
to  look  and  believe. 

When  we  had  seen  the  house  of  Simon  the  Tanner  we  had 


326 


THE  HOT  Y  LAND. 


seen  all  that  was  sacred  or  memorable  about  Jaffa.  We  might 
have  hunted  up  the  spot  where  Bonaparte  put  to  death  his 
prisoners,  but  our  visit  to  the  Holy  Land  is  not  affected  by 
French  history.  We  prepared  for  Jerusalem.  The  distance 
is  forty  miles,  and  all  that  could  be  done  for  us  were  three 
clumsy  wagons  without  tops,  with  Mr.  Hardegg  on  horseback 
as  an  escort.  Our  party  for  Jerusalem  included  four  of  the 
"Vandalia's"  officers,  Lieutenant-Commander  A.  G.  Caldwell, 
Lieutenant  J.  W.  Miller,  Engineer  D.  M.  Fulmer,  and  Mid- 
shipman W.   S.  Hogg.      It  was  too  early  in  the  season  to  see 


Palestine  in  its  glory ;  but  the  plain  was  rich  and  fertile, 
sparkling  with  lilies  and  scarlet  anemones,  with  groves  of 
orange  trees  bending  under  their  golden  fruitage,  the  almond 
trees  coming  into  bloom.  We  had  been  so  many  days  in 
Egypt  with  no  forest  companions  save  the  drooping  date- 
palms  that  we  missed  the  parched  and  barren  fields.  It  was 
grateful,  then,  to  see  Palestine  in  its  greenness.  Even  the  rain 
was  so  homelike  that  we  welcomed  it  and  drove  steadily  through 
it  until,  when  the  sun  went  down,  we  were  in  the  town  of 
Ramleh,  where  we  remained  for  the  night.  Our  first  lodging 
in  the   Holy  Land  was   humble  enough,  for  by  the  time  we 


RAMLEH.  -,0-7 

0-/ 

reached  Ramleh  the  rain  was  pouring.  Still  we  were  in  the 
most  cheerful  humor,  ready  only  to  see  the  bright  side  of  every- 
thing. Even  Caldwell — who  had  to  put  on  his  uniform  and 
sword  to  go  out  into  the  mud,  with  an  Arab  carrying  a  lantern 
walking  ahead  and  two  soldiers  behind,  and  various  dogs  howl- 
ing in  escort — even  Caldwell,  who  had  to  call  on  the  governor, 
seemed  to  think  that  there  never  was  so  jolly  an  errand.  None 
of  us  volunteered  to  go  along.  We  preferred  to  sit  on  the 
large  benches  in  a  room  partly  dining  room,  partly  kitchen, 
partly  parlor — eggs  frying   in   one   corner,  servants  eating   in 


STREET    IN  JERUSALEM. 


another,  with  a  huge  lazy  dog  very  much  at  home.  Caldwell 
came  back  in  a  half  hour  dripping,  and  reported  the  governor 
in  a  fine  state  of  health  and  propriety,  and  we  went  to  bed 
bivouacking  on  beds  that  were  regarded  with  natural  suspicion. 
Before  retiring  we  had  marching  orders  for  six  in  the  morning, 
and  although  six  is  an  early  hour  we  were  all  in  readiness,  the 
General  first  at  his  post.  It  was  seven  before  we  left  Ramleh 
and  pushed  on  to  Jerusalem. 

There  are  no  interesting  facts  about  Ramleh,  except  that  it 
is  of  Saracen  origin.  The  tradition  that  here  lived  Joseph  of 
Arimathea  is  not  accepted,  and  the  town  was  not  deemed  worthy 


.,  ,  g  THE  HOL  V  LAND. 

of  scrutiny.  We  had  an  escort  of  lepers  as  we  took  our  places 
in  our  wagons,  and  were  glad  to  hurry  away.  We  kept  our 
journey,  our  eyes  bent  toward  Jerusalem,  and  looking  with 
quickened  interest  as  Mr.  Hardegg  told  us  that  the  blue  moun- 
tains coming  in  view  were  the  mountains  of  Judea.  Our  road 
is  toward  the  southeast.  The  rain  falls,  but  it  is  not  an  exact- 
ing shower.  The  General  has  found  a  horse,  and  when  offered 
the  affectation  of  an  umbrella  and  urged  to  swathe  his  neck  in 
silk,  says  it  is  only  a  mist,  and  gallops  ahead.  We  are  passing 
from  the  plain  of  Sharon  into  the  country  of  Joshua  and  Sam- 
son. The  road  becomes  rough  and  stony,  and  we  who  are  in 
the  carts  go  bumping,  thumping  along,  over  the  very  worst 
road  perhaps  in  the  world.  But  there  is  no  one  who,  in  the 
spare  moments  when  he  is  not  holding  on  to  the  sides  of  the 
cart  lest  there  might  be  too  precipitate  an  introduction  to  the 
Holy  Land,  does  not  feel,  so  strong  are  the  memories  of  child- 
hood, that  it  is  one  of  the  most  agreeable  and  most  comfortable 
trips  ever  made.  We  are  coming  into  the  foot-hills.  We  are 
passing  into  the  country  of  rocks.  The  summits  of  the  hills 
glisten  with  the  white,  shining  stone,  which  afar  off  looks  like 
snow.  In  some  of  the  valleys  we  note  clusters  of  olive  trees. 
The  fertility  of  Palestine  lies  in  the  plain  below.  Around  and 
ahead  is  the  beauty  of  Palestine — the  beauty  of  nature  in  her 
desolation — no  houses,  no  farms,  no  trace  of  civilization  but  the 
telegraph  poles.  Now  and  then  a  swinging  line  of  camels 
comes  shambling  along,  led  by  a  Bedouin.  If  we  were  to  stop 
and  pause  we  might  remember  that  until  within  a  very  recent 
period  wild  men  dwelt  in  these  fastnesses,  and  that  we  might 
have  a  visit  from  the  Bedouins  ;  but  I  don't  think  it  ever  oc- 
curred to  any  one.  And  if  they  came  they  would  find  no  wea- 
pon more  dangerous  than  a  cigar  case,  or  a  New  Testament, 
which  some  of  us  are  reading  with  diligence,  in  order  to  get  up 
our  Jerusalem  and  know  what  we  are  really  to  see  when  we 
come  within  its  sacred  walls.  The  utter  absence  of  all  civiliza- 
tion, of  all  trace  of  human  existence,  is  the  fact  that  meets  and 
oppresses  you.  The  hills  have  been  washed  bare  by  centuries 
of  neglect,  and  terraced  slopes  that  were  once  rich  with  all  the 


THE  ROAD    TO    JERUSALEM.  -,2g 

fruits  of  Palestine  are  sterile  and  abandoned.  The  valley  over 
which  we  have  ridden  strikes  the  eye  of  the  General  as  one  of 
the  richest  he  has  ever  seen,  and  he  makes  the  observation  that 
the  plain  of  Sharon  alone,  under  good  government,  and  tilled 
by  such  labor  as  could  be  found  in  America,  would  raise  wheat 
enough  to  feed  all  that  portion  of  the  Mediterranean.  It  is  an 
abandoned  land,  with  barrenness  written  on  every  hillside.  For 
hath  it  not  been  written  :  "  I  will  surely  consume  them  saith  the 
Lord:  there  shall  be  no  grapes  on  the  vine,  nor  figs  on  the  fig 


WAILING    F'LACE   OF  JEWS 


tree,  and  the  leaf  shall  fade:  and  the  things  that  I  have  given 
them  shall  pass  away  from  them." 

We  pass  the  ruins  of  Gezer,  which  Mr.  Hardegg  tells  us 
was  once  a  royal  city  of  the  land  of  Canaan — that  an  Egyptian 
monarch  captured  it  and  gave  it  to  Solomon,  when  that  wise 
king  but  widely  disseminated  husband  married  the  conqueror's 
daughter.  There  is  nothing  worth  pausing  to  see,  especially  in 
the  rain,  and  Solomon  somehow  does  not  interest  us,  for  our 
thoughts  are  all  on  Jerusalem  and  one  greater  than  Solomon. 
At  certain  intervals  we  see  a  square  stone  guard-house,  where 


2  7n  THE  HOL  V  LAND. 

soldiers  once  lived  to  watch  the  roads.  But  the  houses  are 
abandoned  and  the  soldiers  have  gone  to  war  upon  the  Musco- 
vite, and  the  road  must  take  care  of  itself.  We  stop  about 
eleven  at  the  only  place  of  entertainment  on  the  way,  and  are 
shown  into  a  gloomy,  damp  upper  chamber.  There  we  take 
luncheon  on  a  pine  table  in  primitive  fashion,  the  Marquis  un- 
burdening the  baskets  and  each  one  helping  the  others.  Some 
of  us  walk  over  the  hills  for  a  short  tramp  while  the  horses 
munch  their  grain,  and  come  back  bearing  anemones  and  but- 
tercups and  daisies,  which  we  lay  at  the  feet  of  the  lady  of  our 
expedition  as  an  offering  from  the  Holy  Land.  We  are  off  an 
hour  ahead  of  time,  thanks  to  our  illustrious  commander.  It 
had  been  calculated  by  experts  that  we  should  reach  Jerusalem 
about  sundown  ;  but  the  General  had  planned  an  earlier  arrival, 
and  that  we  should  enter  the  sacred  city  while  the  sun  shone. 
So  we  went  over  hills  that  kept  growing  higher  and  over  roads 
erowinof  worse  and  worse.  Some  of  us  walked  ahead  and  made 
short  cuts  to  avoid  the  sinuous  paths.  We  pass  a  village  some 
way  off,  which  in  former  years  was  the  home  of  a  bandit  sheik. 
We  are  told  that  this  is  the  village  of  Kirjath  Jearim.  about 
which  you  may  read  in  the  Bible,  where,  as  Samuel  informs  us, 
the  ark  remained  twenty  years.  If  we  stopped  long  enough  we 
might  see  an  interesting  church,  but  we  are  just  now  running  a 
limited  express  to  Jerusalem,  and  the  General  means  not  to  be 
behind  time.  We  see  beyond  us  Joshua's  Valley  of  Ajalon, 
almost  hidden  in  the  mist,  and  remember  how  the  Lord  an- 
swered the  warrior's  prayer.  We  come  to  the  scene  of  the 
great  battle  between  David  and  Goliah.  There  were  stones 
enough  for  the  stripling's  sling,  as  we  can  well  see.  The  valley 
is  deep  and  the  brook  still  runs  its  swift  course.  We  could 
easily  imagine  the  armies  of  the  Jews  on  one  side  of  the  valley 
and  the  armies  of  the  Philistines  on  the  other.  It  is  the  last 
ravine  this  side  of  the  heights  of  Jerusalem,  and  one  of  the 
strongest  natural  defenses  of  the  Holy  City. 

We  have  little  time  to  meditate  on  these  military  achieve- 
ments, for  a  horseman  comes  galloping  toward  us  and  says  that 
at  Koleniyeh — on  the  banks  of  the  very  brook  where   David 


ENTRANCE  INTO    JERUSALEM.  ,,j 

found  his  pebbles  for  Goliah — a  large  company  awaits  us.  In 
a  few  moments  we  come  in  view  of  the  group.  We  see  a  troop 
of  cavalry  in  line,  representatives  from  all  the  consulates,  a  body 
of  Americans,  delegations  from  the  Jews,  the  Greeks,  the  Ar- 
menians ;  the  representative  of  the  pacha  —  in  fact  quite  a 
small  army.  The  dragoman  of  our  consulate  carries  an  Ameri- 
can flag.  As  we  drive  on,  the  consul,  Mr.  Wilson,  and  the 
pacha's  lieutenant,  ride  toward  us,  and  there  is  a  cordial  welcome 
to  Jerusalem.  "We  had  expected  to  enter  Jerusalem  in  our 
quiet,  plain  way,  pilgrims  really  coming  to  see  the  Holy  City, 
awed  by  its  renowned  memories.  But,  lo  and  behold  !  here  is  an 
army  with  banners,  and  we  are  commanded  to  enter  as  con- 
querors, in  a  triumphal  manner !  Well,  I  know  of  one  in  that 
company  who  looked  with  sorrow  upon  the  pageant,  and  he  it 
was  for  whom  it  was  intended.  The  General  had  just  been 
picturing  to  his  companions  what  a  pleasant  thing  it  would  be 
to  reach  Jerusalem  about  five,  to  go  to  our  hotel  and  stroll 
around  quietly  and  see  the  town.  There  would  be  no  palaces, 
or  soldiers,  or  ceremonies,  such  as  had  honored  and  oppressed 
us  in  Egypt.  But  the  General  had  scarcely  drawn  this  picture 
of  what  his  fancy  hoped  would  await  him  in  the  Holy  City, 
when  the  horseman  came  galloping  out  of  the  rain  and  mist, 
and  told  us  we  were  expected. 

Well,  there  was  no  help  for  it,  for  there  were  cavalry,  and 
the  music,  and  the  dragomans  of  all  nations,  in  picturesque  cos- 
tumes, and  the  American  flag  floating,  and  our  consul  the 
proudest  man  in  Palestine.  Mr.  Wilson  had  a  reverential  feel- 
ing for  the  General.  He  was,  he  told  us,  the  first  American 
editor  to  name  the  General  for  the  Presidency,  and  he  had  in- 
tended that  the  entrance  of  his  favorite  commander  into  the 
Holy  City  should  not  be  a  circus  show  or  a  one-horse  affair,  but 
a  pageant.  And  he  surveyed  his  line  with  pride,  while  the 
General  looked  on  in  dismay,  feeling  that  there  was  no  help  for 
him.  So  we  assembled  and  greeted  our  friends,  and  made  the 
best  appearance  over  it  possible,  and  were  presented  to  the 
various  military  and  civil  dignitaries,  and  partook  of  coffee  and 
cigars  in  Turkish  fashion.     More  than  all,  there  were  horses-— 


THE  HOLY  LAND. 


for  the  General,  the  pacha's  own  white  Arab  steed  in  housings 
of  gold.  It  was  well  that  this  courtesy  had  been  prompted,  for 
the  bridge  over  the  brook  was  gone  and  our  carts  would  have 
made  a  sorry  crossing.  We  set  out,  the  General  thinking  no 
doubt  that  his  campaign  to  enter  Jerusalem  at  five  had  been 
frustrated  by  an  enemy  upon  whom  he  had  not  counted.  He 
had  considered  the  weather,  the  roads,  the  endurance  of  the 
horses  ;  but  he  had  not  considered  that  the  pacha  meant  to 
honor  him  as  though  he  were  another  Alexander  coming  into  a 

conquered   town.      We  trailed 
up  the  winding  ways  of  the  hill 
— the  hill  which  sheltered  Jeru- 
salem  from  the  Canaanite  and 
Philistine.      Jerusalem  is   two 
thousand     five    hundred    feet 
above  the  sea,  and  even  then  it 
lies  beyond  a  hill  that  must  be 
passed.     We  wind  around  and 
around,  patiently  straining 
toward  the  summit.     The  mist 
and  the  clouds  that  had  been 
hovering  over  our  path  finally 
enveloped    us,    and   we    could 
trace    with  difficulty  the    path 
over  which  we  had  come.     The 
view  on  a  clear  day  must    be 
wonderful   for   breadth    and  beauty,    and   even   now,  with   the 
gray  clouds  about  us  and  the  rain  falling  in  a  mist,  we  looked 
down  the  mountain's  dizzy  side  and  saw  hill  after  hill  sweeping 
like  billows  on  toward  the  sea.      As  a  glimpse  of  nature  there 
was  beauty  in  the  scene  to  be  remembered  in  many  a  dream. 
But  we  were    thinking    of  the  valley  below,  of  events  which 
have  stirred  the  souls  of  Christian  men  for  centuries,  as  the 
path  of  conquering  armies— of  Joshua  and  David— of  Alexan- 
der and  Vespasian— of   Godfrey  and  Saladin.     And  here  we 
were  coming  with  banners  and  armed  men,  and  at  our  head, 
riding  side  V  side  with  the  pacha's   Turkish   lieutenant,  one 


JERUSALEM.  ,,, 

whose  name  will  live  with  that  of  the  greatest  commander  who 
ever  preceded  him  over  this  rocky  way.  The  valley  passes 
away.  We  ride  about  a  mile  through  a  suburb,  the  highway 
lined  with  people.  The  General  passes  on  with  bared  head, 
for  on  both  sides  the  assembled  multitude  do  him  honor.  We 
see  through  the  mist  a  mass  of  domes  and  towers,  and  the  heart 
beats  quickly,  for  we  know  they  are  the  domes  and  towers  of 
Jerusalem.  There  are  ranks  of  soldiers  drawn  in  line,  the  sol- 
diers presenting  arms,  the  band  playing,  the  colors  falling.  We 
pass  through  a  narrow  gate,  the  gate  that  Tancred  forced 
with  his  crusaders.  We  pass  under  the  walls  of  the  tower  of 
David,  and  the  flag  that  floats  from  the  pole  on  the  consulate 
tells  us  that  our  journey  is  at  an  end  and  that  we  are  within 
the  walls  of  Jerusalem. 

We  were  taken  to  a  small  hotel — the  only  one  of  any  value 
in  the  town.  As  I  lean  over  the  balcony  I  look  out  upon  an 
open  street  or  market  place  where  Arabs  are  selling  fruits  and 
grain  and  heavy-laden  peasants  are  bearing  skins  filled  with 
water  and  wine.  The  market  place  swarms  with  Jews,  Arabs, 
Moslems,  Christians.  Horsemen  are  prancing  about,  while  the 
comely  young  officer  in  command  sits  waiting,  calmly  smoking 
his  cigarette.  A  group  of  beggars  with  petitions  in  their  hands 
crowd  the  door  of  the  hotel,  waiting  the  coming  of  the  man  who, 
having  ruled  forty  millions  of  people,  can,  they  believe,  by  a 
wave  of  the  hand  alleviate  their  woes.  The  General  is  putting 
on  his  gloves  for  the  ride  to  Bethlehem,  and  this  is  the  guard 
that  will  bear  him  company.  Mrs.  Grant,  by  various  friendly 
processes,  is  at  length  secure  on  her  donkey,  and  once  the 
General  is  in  the  saddle  the  rest  of  our  party  will  be  up  and 
away.  The  market  place  is  under  the  walls  of  a  tower — a 
huge,  weather-beaten  mass — which  overlooks  on  the  other  side 
a  pool.  The  tower  is  called  the  Tower  of  David,  and  the  pool 
is  that  in  which  Bathsheba  bathed.  It  was  here  that  the  king 
walked  when  his  eyes  fell  upon  Uriah's  one  ewe  lamb.  A  step 
leads  to  a  wall  and  a  gate.  Beyond  the  gate  a  camp  of  Bedouins 
are  gathered  over  a  fire,  and  you  hear  the  sound  of  the  forge, 
for  they  are  striving  to  fashion  a  hammer  into  shape.     Through 


334 


THE  HOL  Y  LAND. 


this  gate  Simon  Peter  passed  on  his  way  to  the  seaside,  when 
he  went  out  into  the  world  to  preach  the  Gospel.  If  I  go  up  a 
pair  of  narrow  stone  steps,  as  I  did  this  morning  about  sunrise, 
I  am  on  the  roof,  a  roof  of  stone,  with  a  barrier  around  it.  In 
these  Eastern  houses  the  roof  is  the  drawing-room,  and  I  can 
well  fancy  as  I  pace  over  the  honest  floor  what  fine  company 
one  migdit  have  with  the  stars  and  the  hills,  and  above  all  with 
the  memories  that  rest  upon  these  domes  and  roofs,  these  valleys 
and  hills,  this  gray,  sloping  mass  of  houses  and  churches.     You 


BETHLEHEM. 


have  for  company  all  the  memories  that  come  to  you  from  the 
pious  hours  of  childhood  ;  for  your  roof  is  on  the  crest  of 
Mount  Zion,  and  beneath  you  is  holy  Jerusalem. 

Of  course  to  feel  Jerusalem  one  must  come  with  faith. 
And  if  there  be  heathen  questionings  in  any  of  our  company, 
for  this  day  at  least  we  give  ourselves  up  to  faith.  When  I 
was  on  the  Nile  I  found  how  much  easier  it  was  to  be  in  accord 
with  the  monuments  and  the  tombs  ;  to  go  from  Memphis  to 
Thebes  believing — humbly  believing — in  every  stone.  But 
Egypt  was  the  house  of  bondage  after  all,  and  when   I  came  to 


JERUSALEM.  ,  „  - 

Suez,  and  looked  over  the  shallow  water  and  the  sandy  stretches 
to  the  grove  of  palms  where  Moses  rested  after  he  had  crossed 
the  Red  Sea,  all  my  sympathies  were  with  the  Israelites  who 
had  escaped,  and  not  with  the  hosts  upon  whom  the  waters 
rolled  in  a  desolating  flood.  That  is  a  question  upon  which  one 
takes  sides  early  in  life  ;  and  although  you  come  to  see  and 
hear  many  things  on  the  other  side,  and  to  wonder  at  the  many 
cruel  necessities  of  the  early  dispensation,  your  feelings  are  set 
— they  are  a  part  of  your  life — and  no  amount  of  reason  or  his- 
torical research  can  do  away  with  the  impressions  that  came  in 
the  fresh  young  hours  of  your  Sunday-school  existence.  Egypt 
was  always  the  house  of  bondage,  and  you  looked  at  the  records 
of  Rameses  and  Sesostris  with  a  cold,  curious  feeling — as  you 
would  look  at  any  extraordinary  work  of  man.  It  was  only 
history  after  all.  But  you  come  to  the  Holy  Land  with  some- 
thing of  the  feeling  that  you  come  to  your  home.  Somehow 
you  always  belonged  here — for  every  name  is  a  memory,  and 
every  step  awakens  the  long-forgotten  dreams  and  prayers  of 
childhood,  and  over  all,  in  the  very  air  you  breathe,  is  that  su- 
preme, that  gracious,  that  holy  presence — infolding  you  as  it 
were  with  incense — the  presence  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  was  the 
city  of  great  kings,  of  dynasties  of  kings,  of  prophets  and  judges 
— founded  by  Melchizedek,  governed  by  Solomon,  conquered 
by  Alexander — with  annals  surpassing  in  historic  renown  that 
of  any  city  in  the  world.  But  all  are  forgotten  in  the  presence 
of  that  one  name,  which  embodies  the  faith  and  the  hopes  of 
Christendom. 

There  were  ceremonies  to  be  accepted  and  returned  which 
took  time,  but  which  I  will  sum  up  and  dismiss  as  among  things 
that  you  do  not  care  to  dwell  upon  in  holy  Jerusalem.  The 
pacha  called  in  state,  and  spoke  of  the  honor  conferred  upon 
him  by  welcoming  General  Grant  to  Palestine.  The  General 
returned  this  call  with  all  the  ceremony  that  we  could  command, 
which  was  made  easy  by  the  complaisance  and  good  nature  and 
the  uniforms  of  our  naval  friends.  A  uniform  counts  for  a 
great  deal  in  calling  upon  a  pacha.  The  consuls  came  with 
compliments.      The  bishops  and  patriarchs  all  came  and  blessed 


336 


THE  HOL  Y  LAND. 


the  General  and  his  house.  The  pacha  offered  to  send  his 
band  of  fifty  pieces  and  a  guard  to  be  in  constant  attendance. 
But  visiting  the  holy  places  with  a  band  of  music  and  a  military 
escort  was  so  appalling  an  honor  that  it  was  declined  with  as 
much  tact  as  possible  to  avoid  offense.  As  a  compromise,  the 
General  accepted  the  band  for  the  hour  in  the  evening  when 
we  dined.  He  could  not  avoid  it,  and  it  would  be  a  pleasure  to 
the  people  who  swarmed  at  our  gates,  and  lay  in  wait  for  the 
General  with  petitions.     The  pacha   gave    a  state  dinner,  to 

which  we  all  went — a  dinner 
marked  with  the  kindest  hos- 
pitality. These  ceremonies 
quite  used  up  our  little  time. 
The  General  intended  to  spend 
three  days  only  in  Jerusalem, 
for  already  his  eyes  turn  toward 
Rome,  where  he  expects  in 
March  to  meet  some  of  his 
family,  and  we  must  in  the 
meantime  see  Smyrna,  Con- 
stantinople, and  Athens. 

Free  from  our  ceremo- 
nies, we  set  out  to  walk  over 
the  sacred  places,  our  first 
walk  being  over  the  Via  Dolo- 
rosa, the  street  consecrated  to 
Christianity  as  the  street  over 
which  Christ  carried  his  cross.  I  am  living  within  five  minutes' 
walk  of  Calvary.  I  look  at  it  in  the  morning  from  the  terrace 
near  my  chamber  door — a  fair  rounded  dome,  high  in  the  air,  cov- 
ering the  spot  upon  which  our  Saviour  suffered.  I  do  not  enter 
into  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  this  was  the  real  Calvary. 
Somehow  one  thinks  it  must  have  been  one  of  the  hills  beyond 
the  city,  of  which  there  are  many  ;  that  the  cross  would  have  been 
more  imposing  on  the  top  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  for  instance, 
than  here  within  the  walls  near  the  market  places,  under  a  dome. 
But   executions,  we   must  remember,  are   not   pageants,  and  it 


WOMEN    OF    HETH1.EHF.M. 


THE    VIA    DOLOROSA.  „,>, 

00/ 

would  have  been  a  weary  road  over  the  valley  and  up  the  hill 
for  any  careful  centurion  to  send  his  soldiers.  It  is  also  known 
that  in  the  time  of  Christ  Calvary  was  without  the  city  walls, 
that  it  was  about  sixty  feet  above  the  lower  streets  of  the  city, 
as  high  as  Mount  Moriah  and  Mount  Zion.  So  that  each  his- 
torical condition  of  place  and  convenience  is  satisfied.  We  pass 
from  our  hotel  on  Mount  Zion  through  a  narrow,  dingy  street, 
paved  with  jagged  cobble-stones,  rendered  smooth  by  rain 
and  mud.  We  make  our  way  with  difficulty.  We  stumble 
and  slide  rather  than  walk.  We  pass  beggars  who  cry  for 
alms,  workmen  at  various  industries,  merchants  selling  their 
wares,  camels,  and  asses,  and  beasts  of  burden.  We  turn 
into  a  covered  way  and  are  on  the  Via  Dolorosa.  The  first 
place  pointed  out  is  the  Coptic  Monastery.  Here  Christ 
sank  under  the  weight  of  the  cross.  We  are  going  down  the 
hill  which  he  ascended.  We  come  to  the  ruins  of  the  Hos- 
pice of  the  Knights  of  St.  John.  Here  is  where  Jesus  addressed 
the  women  who  followed  him.  We  wind  around  the  corner  and 
follow  the  narrow,  slippery  way — beggars  still  crawling  about  us 
for  alms — Alexander,  of  the  legation,  a  fair  young  Syrian  in  Ori- 
ental costume,  bearing  a  sword,  leading  the  way.  Alexander  is 
in  something  of  a  hurry,  the  Via  Dolorosa  being  of  about  as  much 
interest  to  him  as  Broadway  to  a  New  York  policeman.  Here 
we  are  at  the  house  where  Jesus  fell  for  the  second  time.  We 
descend  a  slippery  path,  and  at  the  corner  is  the  house  against 
which  Christ  leaned  in  his  agony.  The  next  house  is  that 
of  Dives,  the  rich  man.  At  this  corner  Simon  of  Cyrene  took 
the  cross  and  carried  it  a  part  of  the  way,  for  which  pious  office 
his  soul  found  eternal  bliss  and  his  name  has  been  made  im- 
mortal by  a  grateful,  sorrowing,  Christian  world.  In  front  of 
the  house  of  Dives  is  a  stone,  and  over  it  a  hovel.  The  hovel 
was  the  house  of  the  beggar,  the  stone  is  where  he  sat  in  quest 
of  alms  ;  and  under  this  archway  where  we  now  stand  and  look 
at  the  rich  man's  house,  Jesus  stood  and  pronounced  the  parable 
which  you  will  find  in  the  sixteenth  chapter  of  Luke.  We  keep 
on  until  we  come  to  a  church,  a  bright  new  church,  with  an  arch 
overhanging  the  street.     This  is  the  Church  of  Ecce  Homo.    It 


533 


THE  HOLY  LAND. 


was  here  or  hereabouts  that  the  road  to  the  cross  began.  There 
is  a  barracks  on  the  site  of  Pilate's  judgment  hall.  We  go  into 
the  church,  a  sweet-faced  sister  of  some  Catholic  order  opening 
the  way.  Behind  the  altar  is  an  arch,  and  under  this  arch  Pilate 
stood  when  he  delivered  over  Jesus  to  the  Jews.  Here,  in  an 
inclosure,  was  the  whipping,  the  crowning  with  thorns,  the 
decoration  with  the  purple  robes,  and  here  also  Jesus  took  up 
the  cross  which  he  carried  to  Calvary.  We  can  readily  see  as 
we  retrace  our  way  up  the  Via  Dolorosa  that  it  must  have  been 


MOUNT   QUARANTAN1A. 


a  rough  and  weary  road  to  one  rent,  and  torn,  and  bleeding, 
and  crushed  under  the  cruel  burden  of  the  cross.  Even  to  us — 
free  as  we  are — wayfarers,  in  full  possession  of  our  faculties,  it 
is  a  tedious  task  to  climb  the  hill  of  Calvary. 

We  come  to  the  city  gate.  There  is  a  large  gate  and  a 
small  wicket.  When  the  gate  is  closed  at  night  belated  travel- 
ers are  admitted,  after  due  scrutiny,  through  the  wicket.  This 
wicket  is  called  the  Needle's  Eye.  It  is  large  enough  for  an 
average-sized  man  to  enter  without  stooping.  This  gives  a 
touch  of  realism  to  your  scriptural  readings,  and  makes  clear 


THE   GARDEN  OF  GETHSEMANE. 


339 


one  of  the  puzzling-   Bible  comparisons,  that  it  is  easier  for  a 
camel  to  enter  the  needle's  eye  than  for  the  rich  man  to  enter 
the  kingdom  of  God.      How  plain  the  holy  words  become,  and 
how  impressive  the  simple  rhetoric  of  our  Master.      Our  jour- 
ney now  is  over  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat.      The  brook  below 
is  the  brook  Kedron,  of  which   it  is  written   that  Jesus,  on  the 
night  before  his  be- 
trayal,  "went  forth 
with     his     disciples 
over  the  brook  Ke- 
dron,   where    there 
was  a  oarden,   into 
the  which  he  enter- 
ed,   and    his    disci- 
ples."   We  cross  the 
brook  hallowed    by 
his  holy  and  sorrow- 
ful footsteps.      We 
ascend  the  hill  a  short 
distance    and    come 
to  a  walled  garden. 
A  monk  opens  the 
gate.     The    garden   || 
blooms  with  flowers. 
The  paths  are  neatly 
swept.     Around  the 
walls    are    the    pic- 
tures by  which  the 
Catholic  represents 
the    way    to     the 
cross.      Over  the   flower   beds   droop   a   cluster  of   olive  trees, 
ancient,  gnarled,   and  bending.      It  is  not  difficult  to  believe, 
knowing  what    we   do    know    about    trees   in    California,   that 
these    are    twenty  centuries  old.     The  General  says   he   does 
not  doubt  it,  even  from  the  random  evidence  of  his  own  eyes. 
Under    this   tree    Jesus    Christ   knelt    and    prayed    and    made 
holy  forever  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane.     We  looked  at  the 


NEAR    NAZARETK. 


,  ln  THE   HOLY  LAND. 

tree  called  "The  Tree  of  Agony."  We  pressed  its  knotted 
bark  with  reverence,  and,  though  we  were  an  idle  group,  fresh 
out  of  a  busy  world,  there  were  few  words  spoken,  and  all 
thoughts  turned  to  the  sacred  and  sorrowful  scenes  which 
Christian  men  believe  here  took  place.  And  if  one  could  know 
the  hearts  of  those  who  were  about  the  tree,  who  stood  around 
in  silence,  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  would  know  of  many  a 
silent  prayer  breathed  to  Heaven  that  in  the  hour  of  extremity 
the  grace  there  implored  for  sinning  souls  might  be  our  por- 
tion. 

The  good  monk  gathered  some  flowers  for  Mrs.  Grant,  and 
for  the  others  twigs  and  leaves  from  the  Tree  of  Agony.  We 
climbed  the  Mount  of  Olives  to  the  summit.  We  entered  the 
chapel  said  to  be  the  site  of  the  Ascension — now  a  Moslem 
mosque.  We  went  to  the  top  of  one  of  the  minarets  and  looked 
far  beyond  to  the  land  of  Moab,  the  Valley  of  the  Jordan,  and  an 
edge  of  the  Dead  Sea.  In  the  farthest  distance,  just  touched 
by  the  sunlight,  was  a  mountain.  We  were  told  it  was  Pisgah, 
from  which  Moses  viewed  the  Promised  Land.  We  went  on 
to  the  chapel  which  marks  the  spot  where  our  Saviour  taught 
the  Lord's  Prayer.  We  went  into  the  magnificent  chapel  which 
a  French  princess  has  erected  for  her  tomb,  and  around  the 
walls  of  which  is  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  thirty  -  two  different 
tongues.  We  kept  on  over  the  hill,  over  a  fearful  road,  to  the 
village  of  Bethany.  It  was  here  that  Jesus  lived  when  he 
preached  in  Jerusalem.  Here  was  Lazarus,  whom  he  called 
from  the  tomb.  Here  lived  Martha  and  Mary.  We  ride 
under  the  overhanging  ruins  of  the  dwelling  in  which  Jesus 
found  home,  shelter,  friendship,  love  ;  where  he  came  for  peace 
after  the  hard  day's  work  in  Jerusalem.  We  walk  around 
Bethany — which  is  only  a  collection  of  ruins  and  hovels — pass- 
ing over  the  grave-yard  where  Lazarus  was  buried.  We  con- 
tinue along  the  road  that  leads  to  Jerusalem  again,  not  over 
the  mountain,  but  the  one  sloping  near  its  base.  It  was  over 
this  road  that  Jesus  rode  when  he  entered  Jerusalem  on  an 
ass.  Here  too  it  was  that  David  passed  in  sorrow  when  pursued 
by  the  ungrateful  Absalom.     We  pause  at  the  head  of  the  hill, 


JERUSALEM.  341 

where  Jerusalem  comes  in  view.  It  was  here  that  Jesus  wept 
over  Jerusalem  and  prophesied  its  destruction.  We  can  well 
imagine  the  beauty  of  the  fair  city  as  it  nestled  on  the  hillside 
— the  temple  dazzling  all  eyes  with  its  glory,  the  battlements 
and  walls  menacing  all  men  with  their  power.  Then  we  kept 
on  down  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat  and  over  the  brook  and 
around  the  city  to  another  entrance  called  the  Damascus  Gate. 
Thence  to  our  hotel  it  was  but  a  short  distance.  The  walk 
had  been  a  long  one,  but  no  one  felt  weariness,  for  every 
memory  it  awakened  was  a  memory  of  the  noblest  moments 
in  our  lives,  and  every  step  we  had  taken  had  been  over  hal- 
lowed ground. 

"  Jerusalem,"  says  the  Psalmist,  "is  builded  as  a  city  that  is 
compact  together."  This  is  true  to-day.  The  sight-seer  might 
go  over  the  whole  city  in  a  morning.  When  you  read  in  the 
Psalms  such  a  comparison  as  this  :  "  As  the  mountains  are 
round  about  Jerusalem,  so  the  Lord  is  round  about  his  people, 
from  henceforth  even  forever,"  you  feel  that  the  city  you  look 
upon  must  have  been  present  to  the  writer.  It  may  have  been 
the  rain  and  the  snow,  which  came,  during  our  visit,  with  a 
severity  which  had  not  been  known  for  years — but  Jerusalem 
impressed  you  as  a  sad  city.  Or  it  may  have  been  the  remem- 
brance of  the  unspeakable  woes  which  the  holy  men  in  the  scrip- 
tural days  were  in  the  habit  of  threatening,  and  which  time  has 
certainly  fulfilled  ;  the  remembrance,  for  instance,  of  an  impre- 
cation like  this  from  Jeremiah  :"  All  that  pass  by  clap  their 
hands  at  thee  ;  they  hiss  and  wag  their  head  at  the  daughter  of 
Jerusalem,  saying,  Is  this  the  city  that  men  call  The  perfection 
of  beauty,  The  joy  of  the  whole  earth?"  There  must  have 
been  some  reason  for  the  words  of  eulogy,  but  Jerusalem  has 
no  form  of  beauty,  except  when  seen  from  one  of  the  hills,  say 
from  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  then  its  domes  and  minarets, 
its  gray,  massive  walls,  its  compact  streets,  blend  into  an  im- 
posing picture.  As  you  slip  over  the  rough  cobble-stones,  and 
fall  into  ruts,  stumble  in  the  broken  roads,  and  go  through  the 
noisome  streets  where  life  seems  a  fermentation,  it  is  hard  to 
feel  that  even  in  its  holiest  and  sunniest  days  Jerusalem  could 


342 


THE  HOLY  LAND. 


have   been    "the   perfection   of  beauty,  the  joy   of    the  whole 
earth." 

In  our  visit  to  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  it  fell  to 
the  Greek  priests  to  welcome  General  Grant.  This  church  is 
under  the  joint  charge  of  the  priests  of  the  Greek  and  Catholic 
Churches,  with  a  Turkish  guard  over  the  saintly  men  to  keep 
them  from  quarreling.  As  the  General  came  to  the  door,  the 
Archbishop,  followed  by  a  retinue  of  priests,  advanced,  wel- 
coming and  blessing  us  all.  It  was  quite  dark,  but  the  eye  soon 
became  accustomed  to  the  imperfect  light.  It  was  a  disap- 
pointment to  think  that  so  many  incidents  in  the  passion   of 


MTE    OF   CAPERNAUM. 


Our  Lord  should  have  happened  in  a  space  so  small  that  one 
dome  should  cover  them  all.  The  tomb,  the  spot  where  the 
angel  sat  and  watched,  the  rock  rent  by  the  earthquake,  the 
cavern  in  which  the  true  cross  was  found,  the  stone  on  which 
Jesus  sat  when  he  was  crowned  with  thorns,  were  all  within  the 
walls  of  the  church.  The  Holy  Sepulchre  is  in  a  small  inclos- 
ure  blazing  with  lamps.  We  entered  one  by  one,  the  priests 
accompanying  us,  for  the  room  is  too  small  for  more  than  two 
or  three.  We  saw  the  smooth  white  marble  slab  covering  the 
sarcophagus  in  which  the  body  of  Jesus  was  intombed,  the 
priest  said  a  prayer,  bestowing  some  incense  upon  us,  and  we 
kept  our  way.  Then  passing  up  a  stairway  we  came  to  a  plat- 
form.    On  one  side  was  an  altar.     Lamps,  hung  around  it  and 


JERUSALl   U.  54 


J<K> 


the  air  was  heavy  with  incense.  There  were  three  crosses  in 
position.  Under  the  center  cross  was  a  hole  or  socket.  In  this 
hole  stood  the  cross  of  Our  Saviour  when  he  suffered.  The 
other  crosses  marked  the  site  of  His  companions  in  suffering. 
As  we  stood  at  the  foot  of  these  decorations,  the  priests  about 
us  deep  in  prayer,  it  was  difficult  to  feel  that  we  were  on  a  hill, 
on  the  Mount  of  Expiation,  for  above  us  was  the  dome  of  a 
church,  and  around  us  the  walls.  What  we  saw  was  an  over- 
decorated  chapel  in  the  upper  part  of  a  church.  Yet  there  is 
no  reason  why  it  should  not  have  been  Calvary,  for  remember 
that  modern  Jerusalem  is  built  on  the  ruins  of  the  old  city,  and 
whatever  one  may  question  in  the  sacred  writings,  you  cannot 
come  to  Palestine  and  doubt  the  geography.  Every  step  y  >u 
take  convinces  you  of  the  geographical  accuracy  of  the  prophets 
and  apostles.  Nor,  it  seems,  could  there  be  a  question,  in  a 
land  of  traditions,  where  even  the  ages  do  not  change  a  nation's 
habits,  as  to  the  spot  so  well  known  in  all  eastern  cities  as  the 
site  of  public  executions.  You  may  have  your  doubts  as  to  the 
spot  where  the  cock  crew,  or  the  fig-tree  withered,  or  the  sol- 
diers cast  lots  ;  but  Gethsemane  and  Mount  Zion,  Bethany  and 
Calvary,  can  be  taken  on  unquestioned  evidence. 

There  were  other  visits  in  Jerusalem,  to  the  Mosque  of 
Omar,  notably,  where  we  were  received  by  the  Pasha  and  the 
Mohammedan  officials,  and  shown  the  spots  sacred  to  the  Mo- 
hammedan faith.  We  visited  the  excavations,  and  saw  a  street 
going  back  to  the  Roman  days.  From  this  you  see  that  an- 
cient Jerusalem  was  about  sixty  feet  below  the  present  grade, 
a  fact  confirming  your  belief  in  the  Hill  of  Calvary.  There 
was  a  visit  to  Bethlehem,  which  was  disagreeable  on  account  of 
the  rain  and  snow,  and  severely  tried  all  the  members  of  the 
party.  There  was  a  dinner  at  the  Pasha's  palace,  that  official 
expressing  great  anxiety  that  we  should  continue  our  journey 
through  Syria.  But  the  storm  which  made  the  visit  to  Bethle- 
hem so  severe  an  undertaking  had  covered  the  hills  with  snow, 
and,  after  some  discussion,  it  was  determined  to  return  to  Jaffa, 
and,  if  possible,  reach  Beyrout  and  Damascus  from  the  sea. 

We  came  back  to  Jaffa,  and  found,  the  morning  after  our 


344 


THE  HOL  J  •  LAND. 


arrival,  the  "Vandalia"  waiting  for  us  ;  and  in  a  rolling  sea  we 
embarked  and  steamed  along  the  Syrian  coast.  But  the  storm, 
which  had  added  even  to  the  desolation  of  Jerusalem,  continued, 
and,  with  much  reluctance,  we  were  compelled  to  abandon  our 
visit  to  the  Lebanon,  and  continue  on  to  Asia  Minor.  So  we 
slowly  steamed  through  the  islands  of  the  /Egean,  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  21st  of  February  came  to  anchor  in  the  beauti- 
ful bay  of  Smyrna,  meeting  Admiral  LeRoy  and  his  flag-ship, 
the  "  Trenton." 

Pleasant  was  our  visit  to  Smyrna,  rambling  about  the  hills, 


L  \KF   OF   G  U.ILEB. 


strolling  through  the  bazaars,  meeting  our  countrymen  on  the 
men-of-war.  The  effects  of  the  war  raging  between  Russia 
and  Turkey  were  seen  in  the  hordes  of  refugees,  of  Circas- 
sians and  Bashi-Bazouks,  that  swarmed  about  the  highways. 
Some  apprehension  was  felt  for  the  safety  of  the  Europeans, 
as  there  were  constant  rumors  of  an  outbreak  and  a  massacre, 
among  the  Circassians  especially.  On  the  26th  of  February, 
accompanied  by  Admiral  LeRoy  and  a  number  of  his  officers, 
we  visited  the  ancient  ruins  of  Ephesus,  taking  lunch  on  the 
site  of  what  was  said  to  have  been  the  pulpit  of  St.  Paul  in  the 
days  of  his  ministry.      There  were  official  visits  to  the  admirals 


SMYRNA.  ... 

and  official  dignitaries  in  Smyrna,  the  manning  of  yards,  and 
the  firing  of  salutes  ;  and  at  three  in  the  afternoon  of  the  27th 
of  February,  we  took  our  leave  and  went  to  sea.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  28th  we  came  in  sight  of  the  Russian  camp  at  Gal- 
lipoli.  Early  on  the  morning  of  March  1st,  Lieutenant  Strong 
called  me  and  I  came  on  deck.  The  wind  was  cold  and  blow- 
ing, but  as  the  sun  rose  we  saw  Tenedos  and  the  Troad,  and, 
high  above  all,  the  cloudy  summit  of  Mount  Ida.  At  San 
Stefano,  Consul-General  Schuyler,  General  Chambers,  and 
Lieutenant  Green  of  our  army,  with  my  dear  friend  Mac- 
Gahan — whose  death  we  were  soon  to  deplore — boarded  the 
"Vandalia"  and  bade  us  welcome  to  Constantinople. 


- 


,.-,.„. 


\    '■J-Ur^^ffff.Cfe*'  "■'■*'  -' '  '^Sr?'V- 


CONSTANTINOPLE. 


CHAPTER    XII. 


CONSTANTINOPLE    AND    ATHENS. 


(If  ENERAL  GRANT'S  arrival  in  Constantinople  had 
been  fairly  well  timed,  as  it  occurred  but  a  few 
days  after  the  treaty  of  San  Stefano.  While  in 
Palestine,  notwithstanding  our  American  capacity 
for  obtaining  news,  we  were  for  some  time  in  doubt  as  to  the 
course  of  events.  Rumor  flies  rapidly  in  the  East,  and  it  was 
somewhat  difficult  to  sift  the  false  from  the  true.  Of  course 
our  chief  was  thoroughly  informed  as  to  the  nature  of  events, 
and  we  hoped  that  when  the  news  of  peace  reached  us,  at  least 
for  a  while  there  would  be  cessation  of  strife  between  Mus- 
covite and  Moslem.  The  journey  from  Asiatic  to  European 
Turkey  was  accomplished  without  any  great  fatigue  by  our 
party,  and  it  was  on  the  5th  of  March  when  the  General  entered 

346 


ARRIVAL   AT  STAMBOUL. 


547 


Stamboul.  Immediately  on  arrival,  General  Grant  was  wel- 
comed as  usual  by  the  diplomatic  representatives  of  the  United 
States,  and  all  the  Americans  in  Constantinople  were  eager  in 
paying  their  respects  to  our  distinguished  chief.  The  usual 
round  of  visits  of  ceremony  to  our  great  good  fortune  were 
somewhat  curtailed,  owing  possibly  to  the  gravity  of  the  events. 
The  long  and  hard  light  Turkey  and  the  Sultan  had  made,  per- 
haps tended  toward  dimin- 
ishing the  usual  pomp  and 
ceremony  which  belong  to 
Oriental  receptions.  Of 
course  though  feeling  pe- 
culiarly the  position  of  his 
majesty  the  Sultan  Abdul 
Hamid,  General  Grant, 
with  his  dislike  of  errand 
reviews  and  military  dis- 
plays, was  rather  pleased 
than  otherwise  that  he- 
escaped  the  usual  rounds 
of  warlike  pageants. 
Among  the  most  pleasant 
of  the  visits  made  to  Gen- 
eral Grant,  was  that  of  Sir 
Austen  Henry  Layard, 
the  British  Ambassador, 
and  a  grand  soiree  was 
given  by  this  distinguished 
diplomatist,  traveler,  and  archaeologist  to  the  Ex-President, 
which  was  attended  by  all  the  leading  native  and  foreign  offi- 
cials. 

I  cannot  say  that  sight-seeing  in  Constantinople  in  March 
was  of  an  agreeable  character,  owing  to  the  fact  that  March  in 
this  portion  of  Turkey  is  of  the  most  disagreeable  kind.  Ice, 
snow,  and  rains  prevail,  and  the  warmest  and  stoutest  clothing- 
is  necessary.  A  cold  fog  blows  up  from  the  Black  Sea,  which 
is  of  the  most  penetrating   character.      Some  of  the  party  felt 


ARRIVAL   AT   STAMBOUL. 


348 


CONSTANTINOPLE  AND   ATHENS. 


MAP   OF   TURKEY   ANU    ITALY. 


the  change  from  the  warmer  climate  of  Syria,  but  in  our  rapid 
tour  of  travel  no  one  I  am  happy  to  say  had  the  time  to  be 
invalided.  Some  cities  have  the  great  misfortune  of  being  situ- 
ated in  those  exact  positions  which  seem  to  attract  war  and 
strife.  From  the  time  of  Philip  of  Macedon  until  almost  yes- 
terday, when  the  Emperor  Alexander  with  his  hosts  threatened 

its  walls,  Byzantium  of 
the  past  or  Constanti- 
nople of  the  present  has 
always  courted  sieges. 
Here  sooner  or  later  will 
swords  again  be  crossed 
and  shots  be  fired,  until  the 
Bosphorus  be  comes  the 
dividing  line  between  two 
races  of  a  different  creed. 
But  our  party  is  so  entire- 
ly unmilitary,  irom  its 
chief  down,  that  I  must  dismiss  all  warlike  souvenirs,  save  to 
recall  how  in  the  fifteenth  century  Constantine  XIII.  reigned 
here,  and  losing  his  life  in  battling  for  his  throne,  the  Moslem 
won  Constantinople,  and  made  it  the  great  capital  of  the  Turk. 
Mingled  together  in  its  grandest  mosque,  St.  Sophia  shows 
the  relics  of  Christianity  in  the  midst  of  Mohammedanism.  It 
is  not  even  of  ancient  times  this  impress  of  European  thought, 
for  to  keep  it  erect  it  was  renovated  only  in  1847  by  Fossati. 
Do  what  they  may,  save  by  leveling  to  the  dust  the  proud  dome 
of  St.  Sophia,  the  followers  of  the  Prophet  never  can  change 
the  one  great  plan  of  the  foundation,  symbolic  of  Christ,  which 
is  in  the  plan  of  a  cross.  I  do  not  think  that  the  most  ardent 
worshiper  of  that  Christ  ought  to  feel  any  degradation  in  the 
fact  that  so  memorable  a  building  should  be  devoted  to  a  reli- 
gion other  than  his  own.  Europeans  and  Americans  rarely 
appreciate  the  devotion  of  a  good  Moslem.  Traveling  much  in 
foreign  lands  ought  to  induce  liberality  of  thought.  Though 
St.  Sophia  from  its  immensity  be  not  crowded,  still  it  lias  its 
constant   concourse    of  worshipers.      Here   are   imaums,    there 


MOSQUES    OF   CONSTANTINOPLE. 


349 


sheiks  reading  their  Koran,  all  imbued  let  us  trust  with  pious 
thoughts.  There  is  this  peculiarity  in  Oriental  adoration  that  it 
is  indifferent  as  to  the  place  or  surroundings  where  God  or  the 
Prophet  is  to  be  worshiped.  The  Christian  usually  seeks  the 
retirement  of  his  closet  to  address  there  his  Maker,  while  he 
who  turns  toward  Mecca  prays  fervently  whether  he  be  alone 
or  in  the  presence  of  thousands.  Above  the  great  mosque  is 
the  somewhat  flattened  dome,  r  =~ssz  -„  ^ 
which  in  Justinian's  time  was 
all  ablaze  with  gold  and  mo- 
saics. St.  Sophia  spoke  to 
many  of  us  rather  of  the  past 
than  of  the  present.  The 
Turk  does  not  care    for    high 


MOSQUES   OF  ST.  SOPHIA    AND   SULTAN    ACHMED. 


decorative  art  in  his  mosques,  and  much  that  was  beautiful 
with  the  miracles  of  Byzantine  art  have  been  covered  over 
— perhaps  defaced.  Partly  church,  partly  mosque,  it  still  awes 
one  with  its  grand  storv.  Some  day,  when  no  man  can  say, 
those  four  six-winged  seraphim,  all  in  mosaic,  Gabriel,  Mi- 
chael,   Raphael,    and    Israel,   will    shine    resplendent,    and    the 


->c0  CONSTANTINOPLE  A.XD   ATHEXS. 

names  of  Abu-beker,  Omar,  and  Osman  will  certainly  be  trans- 
lated to  another  sphere.  But  other  mosques  call  our  attention. 
The  one  of  the  Sultan  Achmed  is  of  a  pure  Oriental  type, 
with  its  four  airy  domes  and  its  six  lofty  minarets.  The  story 
goes  that  when  Achmed  conceived  the  design  of  this  mosque, 
permission  had  to  be  asked  of  Mecca  to  build  on  it  as  many 
minarets  as  were  over  the  tomb  of  the  Prophet.  This  request 
was  at  last  granted  after  innumerable  delays,  and  not  before 
a  seventh  minaret  had  been  added  to  the  shrine  in  Arabia. 
While  one  portion  of  the  party  visited  the  mosques,  others,  in- 
tent on  collecting  some  souvenirs  of  their  trip,  sought  the  ba- 
zaars. Though  the  Russians  were  quite  near,  since  peace  had 
been  declared  business  seemed  to  be  reviving.  Camels  or  the 
Turkish  porters  went  briskly  around,  bent  double  under  their 
heavy  burdens,  but  were  the  only  lively  people  on  the  scene. 
The  Turkish  merchant  takes  business  in  the  most  nonchalant 
way.  He  never  is  in  a  hurry.  Prices  we  found  were  very 
exorbitant,  that  is  if  we  chose  to  pay  them.  The  act  of  chaf- 
fering or  haggling  seems  to  be  expected,  and  one's  time  and 
patience  are  sorely  tried.  It  is  not  because  you  are  an  infidel 
or  a  stranger  that  ten  times  what  a  thing  is  worth  is  asked  you. 
It  is  simply  the  habit  of  the  country.  Here  is  a  pipe  shop,  with 
the  red-clay  bowls,  and  cherry  or  jasmine  stems ;  we  buy  pipes 
and  saffron-yellow  tobacco. 

Some  of  us  venture  into  a  cafe;  we  find  it  to  be  of  a  mixed 
character.  You  might  have  all  the  civilization  of  the  Boulevard 
des  Italiens,  Parisian  coffee,  a  French  waiter,  your  little  glass  of 
brandy  or  your  Havana  cigar,  or  you  could  indulge  in  the  purest 
Orientalism  with  a  native  attendant.  The  waiter  at  a  word  of 
command  will  bring  you  an  almond-stem  pipe  with  its  amber 
mouth-piece,  will  fill  the  bowl  with  the  most  delicate  tobacco, 
and  you  can  loll  on  a  divan,  propped  up  by  cushions,  and  puff 
away  by  the  hour,  drinking  from  time  to  time  your  small  cup  of 
blackish,  groundy  coffee,  in  a  filagree  cup,  or  indulging  in  many 
of  the  peculiar  sweet  concoctions  the  Turk  delights  in.  Some  ot 
us  were  bold  enough  to  investigate  the  mysteries  of  a  Turkish 
restaurant,  one   of  the  better  kind,  and  found  not  onlv  the  ser- 


CONSTANTINOPLE. 


o3J 


vice  excellent,  but  the  dishes  quite  palatable.  All  languages 
seemed  to  bespoken  around  us;  one  of  our  party,  a  polyglot, 
made  out  German,  Hungarian,  Italian,  Polish,  Armenian,  and 
Greek.  We  had  happened  to  enter  an  eating  house  frequented 
by  military  men,  and  the 
officers  were  apparently 
discussing  the  condition 
of  affairs,  which,  though 
unfortunate  they  might 
have  been,  did  not  seem  to 
have  any  depressing  ef- 
fects upon  their  appetites. 
Turkey,  a  n  d  especially 
the  Turkish  service,  has 
been  for  the  last  forty 
years  the  refuge  of  so 
many  foreigners,  that  one 
need  not  be  surprised  at 
the  varied  character  of  the 
language  spoken.  With 
all  her  seeming-  exclu- 
siveness,  due  to  her  re- 
ligion, Turkey  has  been  the  home  of  many  an  exile,  and  among 
her  bravest  defenders  have  been  soldiers  of  foreign  birth.  As 
known  to  be  attached  to  General  Grant,  an  acquaintance  with 
our  party  was  soon  made  by  a  group  of  superior  officers,  and 
the  eulogium  of  our  chief  was  pronounced.  We  were  amazed 
at  the  thorough  acquaintance  many  of  the  gentlemen  present 
had  with  the  leading  events  of  our  own  civil  war,  and  the  conspi- 
cuous part  played  by  General  Grant.  We  found,  what  was  not 
surprising,  that  the  excellence  of  American  arms  was  fully  as- 
serted by  an  ordnance  officer  present,  and  the  important  part 
our  Yankee-made  rifles  had  borne  in  the  fight  with  Russia. 
They  seemed  grave  and  thoughtful  men,  and  lauded  the  steady 
endurance,  the  frugality,  the  obedience  and  courage  of  their 
men. 

Many  excursions  were  made  to  the  various  palaces  built  by 


STREET    IN    CONSTANTINOPLE. 


35^ 


CONSTANTINOPLE  AND   ATHENS. 


the  recent  predecessors  of  the  present  Sultan,  who  all  seemed 
to  have  had  a  mania  for  building-  costly  edifices,  quite  indifferent 
as  to  where  the  money  came  from.  Some  of  the  party  with  an- 
tiquarian zeal  visited  the  Hippodrome,  which  once  was  the 
rival  of  the  Roman  Coliseum.  The  cemeteries  of  Constantinople 
are  among  the  usual  places  which  call  on  the  attention  of  the 

tourist,  but  as 
the  weather  was 
tempestuous, 
such  explora- 
tions were  not 
made.  One 
thing  peculiar 
about  Constan- 
tinople is  its 
quiet  after  a  cer- 
t  a  i  n  hour  a  t 
night.  By  half- 
past  nine  there 
are  no  moving 
figures  in  the 
streets  save  that 
of  an  occasional 
patrol  of  soldiers 
going  to  the  re- 
lief of  a  post. 
Nothing  dis- 
turbs the  dead 
silence,  only  the 
lugubrious  howl 
of  some  of  those 

wretched  street  curs,  the  pariahs  of  their  race,  which  eke  out  a 
miserable  existence  in  the  public  ways  of  Constantinople.  It  is 
said  that  there  is  a  fire  every  day  and  night  in  Stamboul,  but  if 
any  occurred  we  did  not  see  the  Turkish  fire  brigade  in  action. 

There  are  many  other  sights  to  see.     We  go  to  the  water 
side  and  watch  the  Bosphorus  and  the  caiques  gliding  like 


I'Kl.lsii     UAZAAK. 


ight- 


CONSTANTINOPLE. 


35; 


ning  through  the  water.  It  is  too  cold  yet  for  the  boatmen  to 
don  their  finest  costumes,  so  we  are  told,  or,  as  the  dragoman  in- 
forms us,  we  would  see  the  model  watermen  of  the  world.  We 
watch  a  transport  steamer  coming  in,  and  happen  to  meet  a 
regiment  or  so  of  Turkish  veterans  landing  from  a  distant  point. 
They  are  fine,  sturdy,  military-looking  men.  Of  Orientalism 
in  the  street  we  see  plenty.  Women  clad  in  a  multitude  of 
garments  waddle  along,  veiled  to  the  very  eyes.  We  venture 
on  long  walks  through  Pera,  the  European  portion  of  the  capi- 
tal, situated  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  port.  Here  is  a  city 
aside,  for  the  Perotes  consider  themselves  as  a  people  apart 
from  the  Turk,  asserting  their  English,  French,  Italian,  Russian, 
or  Greek  origin.      Here  are  many  fine  residences  of  Europeans. 

Our  time  is  very  fully  en- 
o-ag-ed,  and  we  make  the  most 
of  our  few  days  in  Constanti- 
nople. We  are  told  by  American 
friends,  who  have  resided  for 
many  years  in  Constantinople, 
that  the  City  of  the  Golden 
Horn  is  not  what  it  used  to  be. 
That  the  ^loom  of  the  terrible 
struggle,  which  has  been  loom- 
ing like  a  dark  cloud  over  the 
city,  has  not  yet  entirely  dis- 
appeared, and  that  only  within 
the  last  few  days  has  something 
like  former  life  returned  to  it. 
We  are  forced  to  decline  many 
kind  invitations  proposed  in  the 
General's  honor,  but  which  can- 
not take  place  in  consequence 
of  the  hurried  visit  he  is  making.  Everywhere,  notwithstand- 
ing the  somewhat  depressing  character  of  Turkish  events  which 
absorb  the  people,  the  Ex  -  President  is  looked  upon  with 
honor,  and  the  greatest  interest  is  manifested  in  regard  to  his 
movements.      Our    stay   though    brief   in   Constantinople,   not- 


STREET    IN 


354 


CONSTANTINOPLE  AND   ATHENS. 


withstanding  bad  weather,  was  of  the  most  enjoyable  character. 
We  were  due,  however,  in  Greece,  so  after  the  usual  warm 
leave-takings  from  all  the  Americans  at  Constantinople,  follow- 
in"-  in  the  lead  of  our  chief,  we  made  straight  for  Athens. 

The  usual  good  weather  which  follows  the  General's  move- 
ments accompanied  him,  and  the  journey  to  Athens  was  accom- 
plished without  fatigue.      Through   the   Dardanelles  we  sailed, 


in 


akinsr  before  lornr  the  Gulf  of  Athens  and  tl 


le  por 


-t  of  Piraeus, 


!  i     svfcs 


THE    HAREM 


some  six  miles  from  the  chief  city  of  old  Greece.      A  short  rail- 
road trip  took  us  to  Athens. 

The  General  is  gradually  getting  over  the  idea  that  it  is 
possible  for  him  to  travel  as  a  private  citizen,  for  here  in  Athens 
a  most  flattering  reception  met  him.  The  United  States  minis- 
ter at  Athens,  General  John  Meredith  Read,  with  a  large 
number  of  American  citizens,  were  present  to  welcome  him,  and 
even  the  King  and  Queen  vied  with  the  citizens  of  Athens  in 
doing  him  honor.  More  imitations,  dinners,  and  receptions 
were   offered   than   the   General   could  have  accepted   in   many 


ATHENS. 


355 


months.      It  is  out  oi  my  purpose  to  describe  the  political  feelino- 
which  was  running-  high   in   Athens  at  the  time   of  our  arrival. 
The  sympathy  of  Greece  for  Russia  in  the  war  against  Turkey 
is  well  known,  and  perhaps  great  expectations  of  extension  of 
territory  had  been   hoped  for  by  the  modern   Athenians.      The 
dream   of  a    great    country,   recalling    the    memories    of  thou- 
sands of  years  back,  when   Greece,  with   Athens  as  its  center, 
gave  art,  politics,  and  literature  to  a  world,  had  been   thought 
once    more    as    within    their    grasp.      The    suddenness    of   the 
peace    of    San      Stefano 
had    brought    all     ambi- 
tious thoughts  to  a  stand- 
still.    Such    topics   were 
rife,  however,  and  though 
the  excitement   was   im- 
mense,    it     in     no     way 
tended  to  make  our  visit 
to  Athens  anything  else 
than    a    most    delightful 
one.     A  grand  reception 
was   offered  to  the  Gen- 
eral   by    the    King    and 
Queen  of  Greece,  which 
was  of  the  most  agree- 
able   character.      This 
fete  was  attended  by  all 
the  foreign  ministers  and 
the  notables  of  the  coun- 
try.     Here    we    saw,    in 
all  its  elegance,  the  pecu- 
liar graceful  costumes  of  the  country.      Nothing  can  exceed  the 
distinction  of  the  more  aristocratic  of  the  Greeks.      If,  however, 
the  peculiar  people  of  the  Greek  of  Praxiteles  have  passed  away, 
and  another  type  has  been   presented,  it  is  still  a  wonderfully 
handsome  one. 

Athens  is  a  mine  of  ancient   research,  and  not  a  day  passes 
without  some  wonderful    finds   beine   made.      Excavations  are. 


lUKKlbH    LADV 


356 


CONSTANTINOPLE  AND  ATHENS. 


constantly  being  prosecuted,  for  not  a  spade  is  put  on  a  foot  of 
ground  which  does  not  enter  classic  soil.  Dwelling  as  the 
Athenian  does  in  the  midst  of  history,  he  prides  himself  in 
being  familiar  with  its  past  glories.  With  the  Acropolis  ever  in 
view,  capped  by  the  grandest  of  all  modern  ruins,  the  Parthe- 
non, the  great  deeds  of  his  ancestors  are  ever  present  in  the 
Athenian  mind. 

We  defer  for  a  day  or  so  the  visit  to  the  Parthenon,  as  it  is  to 
be  illuminated  on  the  occasion  of  General  Grant's  visit,  and  as  the 


THE    DARDANELLES. 


city  itself  has  claims  on  our  attention.  Life  in  Athens  is  mostly 
out  of  doors,  and  the  cafes  in  the  street  are  numerous.  The 
•coming  prosperity  of  Greece  is  evident  from  the  bustle  and 
business  we  see.  We  try  and  study  the  peculiarities  of  the 
Greek  temperament,  and  are  amazed  at  its  activity  and  busi- 
ness-like qualities.  Proud  of  what  their  country  has  achieved  in 
so  short  a  time — for  liberty  acquired  at  Navarino  is  not  half  a 
century  old — the  Greeks  are  now  the  leading  commercial  people 
in  the  Levant.  We  know  in  the  United  States  how  assiduous 
and  clever  in  business  are  the  Greek  merchants.      Of  course  it 


THE  PARTHENON.  ,-„ 

is  not  in  Athens  that  can  be  seen  the  commerce  of  this  country  ; 
but  still  its  effects  were  plainly  visible  by  the  elegance  of  the 
new  structures  in  process  of  erection. 

Perhaps  as  notable  an  event  as  can  be  recorded,  and  one 
which  left  an  indelible  impress  on  the  minds  of  our  party,  was 
the  illumination  of  the  Parthenon.  This  is  an  honor  only  paid 
to  the  most  distinguished  guests.  Starting  out  of  a  pleasant 
evening,  attended  by  a  numerous  escort,  we  scaled  the  Acropo- 
lis and  were  amid  the  noblest  monuments  of  Hellenic  art. 
Though  telling  sadly  of  the  ravages  of  time  and  man's  vandal- 
ism, this  magnificent  pile  astounds  the  beholder  by  its  grand- 
ness.  Up  rears  a  host  of  pillars  of  Pentelic  marble,  fashioned 
and  conceived  by  the  genius  of  a  Phidias.  This  was  the  fortress, 
the  shrine  in  which  the  old  Greek  worshiped,  resplendent  with 
statues  of  the  gods.  I  am  not  architect  enough  or  sufficiently 
skilled  to  enter  into  all  the  refinements  of  art  which  were 
employed  to  render  the  Parthenon  the  most  perfect  of  all  build- 
ings. Modern  scientific  research  of  a  special  character  has  ex- 
hausted itself  over  this  ruin,  and  is  fully  satisfied  that  the  old 
Greek  builder  was  absolutely  cognizant  not  only  of  the  bold 
grandeur,  but  also  of  the  most  delicate  subtleties  of  his  art. 
Human  imagination  will  go  back,  no  matter  how  prosaic  a  man 
is,  to  those  who  worshiped  in  this  temple  two  thousand  years 
and  more  ago.  Such  superb  creations  of  art  must  have  kept 
alive  the  respect  for  the  heathen  deities;  must  have  made  the 
old  Greek  believe  that  it  was  Minerva  or  great  Jove  himself 
who  inspired  mortal  man,  and  guided  his  hand  when  he  built  a 
Parthenon.  But  alas  !  great  Pan  is  dead,  and  we  a  traveling 
party  visit  these  ancient  shrines,  and  wonder  whether  with 
modern  civilization  and  its  conventionalities  we  ever  can  pro- 
duce such  noble  monuments.  I  think  that  all  of  us,  even  those 
to  whom  the  crowning  glory  of  the  Acropolis  was  familiar, 
became  imbued  with  a  feeling-  of  awe  and  reverence  when  in  its 
midst. 

We  have  not  much  time,  however,  to  wander  backward  in 
our  memories,  for  all  of  a  sudden  the  grave  old  ruins  blaze 
with   a   thousand    Bengal   fires.      It    is   as   if  by   enchantment. 


353 


CONSTANTINOPLE  AND   ATHENS. 


Each  dark  crook  and  corner,  every  crevice,  all  the  mysterious 
somberness  is  gone,  for  it  is  now  as  clear  as  day.  Floods  of 
light  pour  on  columns  until  the  flutings,  the  old  chisel-marks  are 
discernible.  The  indistinct  cornices,  the  peristyle,  are  cut  with 
sharpened  corners.  Perhaps  this  over-coruscation  brings  out 
too  the  cracks  and  scars  which  have  gashed  and  scarred  the 
face  of  this  much-revered  old  shrine.     Away  off  in  the  distance, 


bathed  in  a  seaot  light,  we  catch 
a  view  of  the  Erectheum  with 
its  portico.  There  are  merry 
aughs  and  chatterings  going  on 
inside  as  fresh  fires  are  lit  and 
new  effects  produced. 

The  writer  does  not  know  whether  to  express  pain  or  plea- 
sure as  the  result  of  his  impressions  of  the  Parthenon  when  thus 
illuminated.  He  thinks  though  he  would  rather  see  the  Par- 
thenon on  one  of  those  quiet  nights  when  the  moon  just  silvers 
the  columns  with  her  beams.  Without  false  sentimentality 
there  is  a  garishness  about  such  artificiality  which  is  just  a  trifle 
distressing.      That  just  appreciation  which  one  may  have   fos- 


A  THENS. 


359 


tered  of  the  impressive  sublimity  of  Greek  art  tends  to  be  dissi- 
pated by  the  more  modern  lime  lights. 

I  can  safely  say  that  many  of  us  as  we  left  the  Acropolis 
that  night,  and,  guided  by  our  kind  friends,  descended  into 
the  city,  were  under  the  majestic  spell  of  the  Parthenon.  Our 
chief  may  have  the  reputation  of  being  an  imperturbable  man, 
but  very  certainly  none  appreciated  better  than  General  Grant 
the  greatness  of  the  past.     The   part)-  taken  as  a  whole  have 


ILLUMINATION    OF   THE    ACROt'OLl.S. 


by  this  time  developed  fully  the  art  of  sight-seeing,  and  the 
General  has  shown  the  most  marked  adaptiveness  as  a  tourist. 
His  capabilities  are  wonderful,  and  there  is  no  tire  in  him.  It 
is  of  immense  advantage  to  us  to  have  such  a  practical  head. 
Without  any  of  the  rigor  of  military  rule,  hours  of  grand  de- 
partures are  fixed,  and  if  there  are  stragglers — well,  they  must 
shift  for  themselves.  A  journey  around  the  world  requires 
exactly  this  kind  of  discipline,  and  the  same  order,  system,  ami 
good  judgment,  which  are  General  Grant's  greatest  traits, 
stand  us  now  in  good  stead.  Time  flies  as  on  wings  with  us 
in  Athens.     We  visit  the  great  battle  scenes  of  Greece,  and  see 


„6o  CONSTANTINOPLE  AND  ATHENS. 

the  plains  of  Marathon.  Old  classical  literature  is  rehearsed.  It 
is  the  "Odyssey"  now  some  of  us  pore  over,  just  as  we  relearnt 
our  Testament  in  Jerusalem.  But  it  is  the  colder  words  we 
read  extolling  the  outward  physical  grace  of  man.  In  the  Holy 
City  it  was  an  inspired  text  which  warmed  our  hearts.  We  are 
now  far  into  March,  and  as  the  General  has  engagements  which 
call  him  to  Rome  toward  the  close  of  the  month,  we  leave  the 
classic  soil  of  Greece,  and  speeding  through  the  blue  Mediter- 
ranean, steer  our  course  toward  Italy. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


ROME,    FLORENCE,     VENICE,     AND    MILAN. 


W  f-aT  has  been  said  a  thousand  times  "that  all  roads  lead  to 
^lL%       Rome."     This  is  an   adage  as  old  as  the  world,  and 

has  been  repeated  from  classic  periods  up  to  to-day. 

To  the  chief  of  our  party,  as  to  the  rest  of  us,  the 
Imperial  City  was  an  object  of  the  greatest  interest.  That 
grandest  of  all  ecclesiastical  buildings,  the  basilica  of  the  world, 
is  so  stamped  on  every  memory  that  long  before  we  reached 
Rome  the  dome  of  St.  Peter's,  looming  above  the  Campagna, 
informed  us  that  we  were  nearing  the  city.  Our  visit  to  Rome 
had  been  fairly  well  timed,  for  though  the  period  between  the 
death  of  Pius  IX.  and  his  successor  Leo  XIII.  had  been  but  short, 
the  excitement  over  the  election  of  a  new  pontiff  had  quite  sub- 
sided.     Our  time  of  arrival  was  indeed,  in  some  respects,  most 


36: 


ROME,    FLORENCE,    VENICE,    AND  MILAN. 


fortunate,  as  the  presence  of  his  Eminence  Cardinal  McCloskey 
would  give  us  certain  facilities  in  the  Holy  City  which  per- 
haps would  not  have  been  otherwise  possible.  As  the  repre- 
sentative prelate  of  the  Catholics  in  the  United  States,  Ids 
Reverence  Cardinal  McCloskey  immediately  called  on  General 
Grant,  and  under  the  auspices  of  the  Cardinal  and  Monseigneur 
Chatard,  rector  of  the  American  College  of  the  United  States 
in  Rome,  the  Ex-President  was  received  by  his  Holiness  Leo 
XIII.  The  interview  was  of  a  most  agreeable  character,  and 
left  a  very  pleasant  impression  on  the  General.  Of  course  this 
reception,  highly  flattering  as  it  was  to  the  distinguished  head 
of  our  party,  was  not  to  be  considered  as  partaking  of  anything 
of  a  religious  character.  It  was  simply  a  visit  of  respectful 
courtesy  from  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  Americans  to  the 
highest  dignitary  of  the  Catholic  Church.  The  manners  and 
habits  of  Leo  XIII.  are  of  the  simplest  character,  free  from  all 
pomp  and  parade,  and  those  who  had  the  honor  to  be  present 
at  the  interview  were  struck  by  the  quiet  ease,  dignity,  and  im- 
pressiveness  of  his  Holiness. 

Such  courtesies  as  the  General  received  in  Rome  from  King 
Humbert  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  dwell  upon  save  in  the 
briefest  way.  Almost  immediately  on  arrival  the  General  was 
called  upon  at  his  hotel  by  an  aide-de-camp  of  the  King  of 
Italy,  ami  every  possible  facility  given  us  to  see  the  innume- 
rable monuments  and  museums  which  abound  in  Rome.  An 
early  visit  was  paid  to  the  Coliseum,  the  grand  amphitheater  of 
ancient  Rome.  What  superb  old  shows  there  must  have  been 
in  those  days!  How  our  modern  spectacular  effects  dwindle 
away  before  even  the  remembrances  of  such  immense  pageants! 
True  that  eighty  years  before  Christ  the  impressario  of  such 
a  theater  was  an  emperor  himself,  and  his  audience  were  peo- 
ple who  had  to  be  propitiated  with  shows — panem  et  circenses. 
Think  of  a  building  which  would  hold  seventy-five  thousand 
persons,  and  which  covers  five  acres — a  structure  which  has 
withstood  the  vandalism  of  ages — which  defied  Alaric  and  his 
barbarous  hordes,  ami  still  amazes  the  world  with  its  size  and 
massiveness  !      It  is  impossible   for  any  one  who  visits  the  Coli- 


THE   COLISEUM. 


)63 


seum  not  to  recall  the  barbarous  sports  which  once  must  have 
rendered  this  place  hideous.  As  we  traverse  the  arena,  we 
are  reminded  that  here  where  our  foot  is  placed  the  tiger  has 
bounded  and  torn  his  victim,  and  here  the  panting  gladiator 
stricken  to  the  ground  has,  with  swimming  eyes,  looked  around 
at  a  sea  of  cold  pitiless  faces,  and  waited  to  receive  from  some 
stolid  emperor  life  or  death.  Here  Christians  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom. 


THE   COLISEUM 


there 


truth   in    the   legend 


and  why  should  we  not  believe  it  ? — it 
was  the  monk  Telemachus  or  Al- 
machus  (would  that  his  exact   name 

were  preserved  !)  who  in  the  year  404  rushed  into  the  bloody  tray 
and  separated  the  gladiators.  The  praetor  Alybius,  a  Roman 
of  the  old  school  whose  cold  blood  could  only  be  excited  by 
carnage,  maddened  by  the  stoppage  of  the  brutal  play,  goaded 
on  by  the  howls  of  the  multitude,  bid  the  gladiators,  whose  lives 
the  monk  was  praying  for,  to  cut  the  intruder  down.  But  the 
blood   of  Telemachus  was  the  true  seed   of  the   martyr.      That 


364 


ROME,   FLORENCE,    VENICE,   AND  MILAN. 


one  action,  with  the  self-sacrifice,  brought  in  time  the  abolition 
of  these  gladiatorial  games.  It  was  Honorius  who  stopped 
forever  these  murderous  contests,  for  since  his  time  the  earth  of 
the  Coliseum  has  drunk  no  human  blood. 

There  are  chapels  erected  here  now,  and  prayers  are  said 
for  the  souls  of  those  who  were  slaughtered  in  those  terri- 
ble sports.  We  visited  the  arches  of  Titus  and  Constantine, 
and  thoroughly  explored  old  Rome  and  its  remaining  monu- 
ments. Since  the  reign  of  Victor  Emmanuel  and  of  his  suc- 
cessor, archaeological  explorations  of  the  most  thorough  kind 
have  been  undertaken,  and  great  additions  are  constantly  be- 
ing made  in  the  way  of  friezes    and    statues.     Gradually   the 

magnificence  of  old  Rome 
is  being;  better  under- 
stood.  Should  ever  old 
Tiber  be  turned  from  its 
course — for  to-day  as  in 
the  time  of  the  Caesars, 
the  river  is  a  turbulent 
one,  and  overflows  its 
banks,  requiring  some 
engineering  to  prevent 
heavy  losses  to  the  city 
— should,  then,  the  bed  of 
the  river  ever  be  exposed, 
what  untold  treasures  of 
art  will  see  the  light ! 

From  ancient  to  mod- 
ern Rome  the  transition 
is  an  easy  one.  Near  the 
temples  reared  to  the 
heathen  deities,  tower  the 
churches  sacred  to  the  Son  of  God.  St.  Peter's,  that  marvel  of 
architecture,  the  combined  thought,  the  inspiration  of  a  Bra- 
manti,  a  Michael  Angelo,  and  a  Bernini,  must  ever  impress  the 
traveler  with  awe  and  reverence.  Its  immensity  seems  lost  at 
first,  from  the  absolute  perfection  of  its  proportions.      Here  are 


INTERIOR   OF  ST.  PETER  S. 


THE    VATICAN. 


365 


the  tombs  of  innumerable  popes,  their  monuments  the  clicf- 
d'asuvres  of  the  greatest  of  sculptors.  The  magnificence  of  the 
baldichino  or  canopy  over  the  high  altar  dazzles  one  with  its 
splendor.  St.  Peter's  is  a  church  of  constant  adoration;  all  day 
long  prayers  are  said  there.  It  is  the  great  religious  center 
of  the  Christian  world,  and  God's  grace  is  humbly  asked  there 
by  sinners  in  every  known  language.  The  Lateran  basilica, 
which  has  the  proud  distinction  of  having  the  popes  crowned 
within  its  walls,  was  also  an  object  of  interest  to  jis.  To  visit 
the  many  churches  in  Rome  with  any  kind  of  thoroughness 
would  alone  occupy  weeks  of  time.  The  museums  of  Rome 
gave  us  the  amplest  opportunity  for  sight-seeing.  There  is 
certainly  no  such  collection 
of  sculpture  as  the  Vatican 
possesses.  If  sculpture  does 
not  satisfy  the  sight-seer,  in 
the  Sistine  Chapel  of  the  Vati- 
can is  the  most  impressive  of 
all  frescoes,  the  terrible  Last 
Judgment  of  Michael  Angelo. 
Here  are  the  divinest  works 
of  Raphael  in  the  adjacent 
rooms  with  Domenichinos, 
Guidos,  and  Correggios. 
Apart  from  the  delight  of  see- 
ing artistic  creations,  which 
never  will  be  equaled,  the  lit- 
erary portion  of  our  party 
feasted  their  eyes  in  the  Vati- 
can Library  with  the  sight  of  the  earliest  copies  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. 

Invitations  innumerable  were  sent  to  General  Grant  to  visit 
private  museums,  which  were  accepted  in  many  cases.  It  may 
be  said  that  the  distinguished  head  of  the  party  was  a  tireless 
sight-seer,  and  in  more  than  one  case  showed  a  power  of 
endurance  which  perhaps  had  been  brought  into  existence  in 
his  war  campaigns.     On  the  15th  of  April,  all  the  Italian  minis- 


RU.MAN    BOY. 


^66  ROME,    FLORENCE,    VENICE,    AND  MILAN. 

ters  were  present  at  a  state  dinner  given  to  General  Grant  by 
King-  Humbert.  The  banquet,  a  magnificent  one,  was  a  distin- 
guishing honor  paid  to  the  Ex-President  of  the  United  States. 

April  20th,  we  are  in  Florence,  the  fairest  of  the  Italian  cities, 
and  a  favorite  residence  of  Americans.  We  are  surprised,  in  fact, 
at  the  number  of  our  republicans  who  live  in  Florence,  all  of 
whom  vie  with  one  another  in  welcoming  the  General.  The 
climate  we  find  delightful.  It  is  early  spring,  occasionally  there 
is  a  cold  day,  and  the  Arno  runs  yellow  and  turbid  from  rain- 
storms in  the  mountains  ;  still  there  are  many  hours  of  delight- 
ful sun,  and  the  flowers  are  beginning  to  bloom.  Florence  en- 
chants us  all.  It  has  not  the  austerity  of  Rome,  and  perhaps 
this  is  more  satisfactory  to  the  General  ;  who,  beine  no  longer 
trammeled  by  ceremony,  is  enabled  to  do  rather  more  as  he 
likes.  Stately,  well-meant  courtesies,  accompanied  by  black 
coats  and  white  neckties,  are  the  penalties  of  distinction,  and 
the  Ex-President  being  wherever  he  goes  considered  as  repre- 
senting the  United  States,  has  more  receptions  inflicted  upon 
him  than  he  perhaps  wishes.  Nevertheless,  the  General  takes 
it  all  in  good  part,  and  when  a  little  relaxation  comes,  and  offi- 
cial visiting  is  dismissed  for  the  day  or  the  hour,  he  is  the 
life  of  the  party. 

We  arrange  the  usual  programme  for  sight-seeing,  for  if  the 
General  is  of  the  party  there  must  be  method  about  it.  Our 
first  visit  is  to  the  Ufizzi  Gallery,  and  we  are  amazed  at  its 
magnificence  and  variety.  We  understand  now  how  it  was  in 
Florence  that  art  had  a  new  birth,  that  here  first  started  the 
Renaissance.  To  the  Medicean  princes,  the  great  merchants  of 
the  world,  is  due  the  awakening  of  art.  If  Rome  treasured 
ecclesiastical  lore,  and  in  a  certain  measure  looked  at  the  keep- 
ing of  men's  souls,  Florence  was  the  city  of  pleasure,  and  of  the 
more  refined  arts.  Its  streets  reflect  the  gayety  of  the  people. 
Italy  maybe  passing  through  the  throes  of  travail,  and  Florence 
may  be  burdened  with  many  debts,  but  there  is  an  insouciance, 
a  jollity  about  Florence,  which  is  most  pleasant  to  witness. 

But  for  the  Ufizzi  Gallery.  I  suppose  the  best  known  statue 
in  the  world  is  that  of  the  Medicean  Venus.      It  was  Cosmo  III. 


THE  ART  CILLERIES. 


3<>7 


who  found  this  paragon  of  a  marble  woman  and  set  her  up  in 
place,  and  mutilated  as  she  was,  it  was  Bernini  who  restored  her. 
For  long  years  this  Greek  beauty  held  dainty  sway — until  to 
the  Venus  of  Milo,  the  grandest  physical  woman  of  antiquity, 
was  awarded  the  palm  of  beauty.  In  this  Ufizzi  Gallery  are 
pictures  whose  excellence  has  been  extolled  ever  since  they 
left  the  painters'  hands — as  they  will   be   in   all   time  to  come 


W^m&^ffu. 


Here  are  Raphael's 
Madonna  del  Cordelino, 
and  the  Fornarina,  Paul 
Veronese's  St.  John,  with  Titian's  Venus,  Carracci's  Cupid, 
Volterra's  Massacre  of  the  Innocents,  with  Guercino's  Endy- 
mion  and  Guido's  Virgin.  Here  are  a  dozen  pictures,  which 
beyond  price  are  the  grandest  in  the  world.  Would  you  see 
antiquity  once  more  in  its  most  pathetic  mood?  Here  in  this 
hall  is  Niobe  and  her  children.  We  spend  hours  in  this  gallery, 
and  pass  from  wonder  to  wonder.  The  Pitti  Palace  and  its  col- 
lection is  on  our  books  for  that  day,  and  the  General,  who  has 
no   tire  in    him,  pays   it   a   long   visit.      The   architecture    is   a 


36S 


ROME,   FLORENCE,    VENICE,   AND  MILAN. 


masterpiece  of  Brunelleschi,  built  originally  for  a  rival  of  the 
Medici,  and  a  fitting  residence  for  the  late  king  of  Italy.  The 
ceilings  of  most  of  the  rooms  in  the  gallery  are  commemorative 
of  Cosimo  de  Medici,  and  on  the  walls  hang  the  works  of 
Raphael,  Tintoretto,  Rubens,  Del  Sarto,  Veronese,  Carlo  Dolce, 
and  Salvator  Rosa.  It  was  with  unfeigned  pleasure  that  we 
found  that  Italians  and  especially  Florentines  treasured  the 
memory  of  Hiram  Powers.      As  for  Americans  eng-aeed  in  art 

studies,  we  hardly 
ever  visited  a  gal- 
lery of  any  distinc- 
tion without  finding: 
some  one  from  the 
United  States  busy 
with  brush  and  pal- 
ette, diligently  work- 
ing away,  and  study- 
ing the  grand  old 
masters. 

Florence  is  in- 
deed sacred  ground, 
hallowed  by  the 
memories  of  the 
greatest  of  painters, 
sculptors,  and  au- 
thors. It  was  here 
Dante  and  Boccaccio 
wrote  their  poems, 
their  romances. 
Dante  to-day  is  in 
the  m outh  of  the 
Florentine  as  Shake- 
speare is  with  us.  These  names  which  we  as  Americans  only 
know  through  a  transmitted  influence,  through  translations, 
take  palpable  form  and  speech  in  the  city  where  they  lived. 
One  ponders  over  politics,  one  cannot  help  it,  when  we  are 
forced  to  go  back  to  the  Medici  and  to  a  Macchiavelli.      But 


GIOTTO'S  TOWER. 


FLORENCE. 


369 


this  is  the  palace  a  Cosmo  built,  and  up  those  steps  may  have 
tripped  the  most  subtle  thinker  of  his  time.  A  traveler  who  is 
not  narrow  in  his  judgment  of  men  and  things,  who  can  in  his 
mind  compare  the  past  with  the  present,  gradually  accepts 
these  personages,  sympathizes  with  their  ends  and  aims,  and 
is  forced  to  believe  that  human  nature  in  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries  did  not  differ  so  much  from  that  of  to-day. 
There  have  been  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  who  fought  and 
wrangled  five  hundred  years  ago,  and  to-day  there  are  just  such 
men  to  be  found  in  other  countries. 

There  are  delightful  drives  near  Florence,  and  now  the  Ca- 
cine  is  commencing-  to  bloom.  It  is  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  of 
Florence.  It  is  yet  a  little  too  cool  for  open  carriages,  but  the 
equipages  are  very  fine  and  in  good  taste.  As  the  General 
drives  modestly  and  unostentatiously  along  the  Cacine  he  is  sur- 
prised at  the  number  of  acquaintances  he  has  made,  as  hats  are 
touched  by  gentlemen,  and  ladies  bow,  bestowing  their  sweet- 
est smiles  on  the  chief  of  our  party.  We  get  a  better  view  of 
the  Arno  from  the  Cacine.  We  wish  it  were  bluer ;  we  are  told 
it  is  so  sometimes,  but  that  the  rains  have  given  it  a  golden 
gleam.  This  "  golden  gleam "  may  be  poetical,  in  keeping 
with  Italian  skies,  which  are  blue  enough,  but  we  all  call  the 
Arno  muddy.  In  fact,  some  of  us  long  to  see  a  decent  river, 
something  that  swells  in  great  voluminous  floods,  like  the  Hud- 
son, the  Potomac,  or  the  Mississippi.  For  all  Italian  rivers  are 
except  in  time  of  floods  insignificant.  All  churches  in  Italy  are 
memorable,  and  none  the  less  so  is  the  Duomo  or  the  cathedral 
Santa  Maria  del  Fiore.  Here  is  the  grandest  cupola  in  the 
world — even  rivaling  that  of  St.  Peter's.  It  is  another  master- 
piece of  the  great  Brunelleschi.  Who  goes  to  Florence  and 
does  not  see  the  gates  of  Ghiberti  on  the  baptismal  church  of 
San  Giovanni?  These  are  the  gates  which  the  great  Michael 
Angelo  declared  were  fitting  to  become  the  portals  of  Paradise. 
Easter  now  was  fast  approaching,  and  with  it  the  religious  fes- 
tivals which  are  so  carefully  kept  in  Italian  cities.  The  Gene- 
ral might  have  wished  to  have  been  present  at  St.  Peter's 
during  Easter  week,  but  the  necessity  of  reaching  Paris  at  a 
24 


!7o 


ROME,   FLORENCE,    VENICE,   AND  MILAN. 


fixed  date  prevented  a  long  delay  in  Rome.  He  was,  however, 
fortunate  enough  to  witness  the  commencement  of  the  Easter 
festival  at  the  Duomo  with  all  its  grand  impressiveness. 

While  in  Florence  some  of  the  more  enthusiastic  of  the  party 
made  an  excursion  to  Pisa.     I  do  not  think  any  town  in  Italy 


can  show  more  plainly  than  Pisa  the  era  of  modern  decadence. 
Could  it  be  possible  that  this  city  was  once  the  rival  of  Flor- 
ence ?  But  so  it  was  ;  but  its  greatness,  its  majesty,  and  its  power 
have  crumbled  away  ;  it  has,  in  fact,  suffered  absolute  dry-rot. 
Now  people  can  understand  why  some  of  the  towns  in  Holland 
have  almost  passed  out  of  existence.  The  reason  is  that  the  ocean 
which  brought  them  trade  and  commerce  has  absolutely  receded 


1  'ENICE.  ,  -  . 

o/  l 

from  their  shores,  and  they  lie  now  like  stranded  hulks  on 
the  sands.  The  decline  of  Pisa  owes  its  origin  to  internal 
strife.  Florence  hated  Pisa,  and  as  no  love  was  lost,  one  of  them 
went  under.  It  is  the  Leanin"-  Tower,  one  of  the  wonders  of  ar- 
chitecture,  which  exists  for  Pisa,  for  without  it  Pisa  would  be 
shorn  of  all  interest.  It  always  gives  a  curious  sensation  to  any 
one  who  has  mounted  the  Tower  to  look  down  from  the  receding 
side  and  to  feel  that  he  is  standing  on  nothing,  and  that  the  next 
moment  he  may  slide  off  into  space.  There  is  a  campo  santo  here 
made  up  of  original  dirt  brought  from  Palestine,  but  Pisa  is  such 
a  dead  place  that  to  the  vivacious  Americans  in  the  party  the 
campo  santo  had  few  special  allurements. 

Our  stay  at  Florence,  though  short,  was  a  delightful  one, 
rendered  doubly  so  by  the  constant  attention  of  the  authorities. 
Our  departure  from  Florence  took  place  under  the  most  happy 
auspices,  all  our  countrymen  having  assembled  at  the  depot, 
and  amid  loud  huzzas  and  the  best  of  wishes  the  Ex-President 
and  the  party  sped  on  to  Venice. 

On  the  23d  of  April,  General  Grant  reached  Venice  by  rail- 
road from  Florence.  The  route  was  an  agreeable  one,  pass- 
ing through  the  most  picturesque  portions  of  Italy.  Crossing 
the  superb  bridge  which  connects  "the  Queen  of  the  Adriatic" 
with  the  mainland,  at  the  station  the  General  was  greeted  by 
John  Harris,  Esq.,  the  United  States  Consul,  and  by  a  nume- 
rous party  of  Americans.  No  sooner  had  a  hearty  welcome 
been  proffered  to  the  General  by  his  own  countrymen,  than 
the  officials  of  the  city  pressed  forward,  and  the  usual  con- 
gratulatory speeches  were  made.  Escorted  to  a  comfortable 
hotel,  our  first  evening  was  passed  in  needed  rest,  as  all  of  us 
save  the  General  felt  the  fatigue  of  constant  traveling  and 
sight-seeing.  From  the  windows  of  the  hotel,  however,  there 
was  ample  opportunity  for  amusement.  The  city  of  canals 
lay  stretched  before  us,  and  on  the  waters  were  plying  the 
gondolas.  Early  next  day  visits  were  planned  to  the  most 
notable  places  of  interest.  It  has  been  said  that  one  of  the 
most  lasting  impressions  a  traveler  can  receive  is  that  derived 
from  the  first  visit  to  the  Piazza  San   Marco.      Here  it  is  that 


ROME,    FLORENCE,    VENICE,    AND  MILAN. 


stand  those  two  famous  columns,  one  bearing  the  statue  of  St. 
Theodore,  the  other  the  famous  winged  lion  of  St.  Mark.  The 
buildings  which  surround  this  place  are  of  the  most  imposing 
character.  Nothing  is  wanting  to  complete  the  grandeur  of  the 
picture,  for  as  a  background  stands  the  famous  church  of  St. 
Mark's,  the  most  perfect  type  of  Byzantine  work.  Inside  this 
church  is  a  mass  of  verd-antique,  marble,  jasper,  and  porphyry, 


its  gorgeousness  even  further 
heightened  by  innumerable  pic- 
tures of  the  saints,  executed 
in  mosaics.  It  is  impossible 
to  spend  an  hour  in  Venice 
without  recalling  its  former 
frandeur.      Here  was  once  cen- 

o 

tered  the  commerce  of  the  world.  Here  was  the  starting  place 
of  Marco  Polo.  It  was  the  Venetian  merchant  who  gathered 
here  the  riches  of  unknown  countries.  It  might  have  been 
the  greatest  despotism  that  ever  existed,  but  it  was  the  cradle 
of  all  that  was  beautiful  in  the  arts,  and  to  Venice  was  due 
the  awakening  of  literature.      Its  own  exclusiveness  destroyed 


/  -  EX  ICE. 

Venice    after    a   time.      But   let   us   hope    that    under   brighter 
auspices  its  commerce  may  once  more  revive. 

Some  of  us  took  to  the  gondolas  and  threaded  the  canals, 
and  were  never  weary  of  the  wondrous  sights  which  were  ever 
appearing.  Here  was  an  old  palace,  famous  as  the  residence 
of  some  old  doge,  whose  name  was  coeval  with  the  earliest  his- 
tory of  the  cit) — here  was  another  that  recalled  honors  culled  at 
the  great  naval  battle  of  Lepanto.  Some  were  dreary  piles,  some- 
what crumbling  and  desolate,  others  looked  fresh  and  inviting. 
Evidently  the  presence  of  the  General  was  known,  for  from  many 
a  window  appeared  a  fair  lady,  who  waved  her  kerchief.  Of 
course  the  Rialto  was  visited,  and  the  Bridge  of  Sisrhs.  We  ad- 
mired  the  wonderful  skill  of  the  gondoliers,  and  the  ease  with 
which  they  propelled  their  boats.  Much  of  our  time  in  Venice  was 
spent  on  the  gondolas.  Of  course  one  cannot  get  along  without 
them,  as  they  answer  the  purpose  of  cars  or  cabs  in  other  cities. 
It  is  the  perfection  of  locomotion,  and  has  the  advantage  of  be- 
ing noiseless.  We  did  not  fail  to  visit  the  Arsenal,  one  of  the 
relics  of  Venice,  telling  of  her  past  grandeur.  Here  it  was  that 
were  equipped  the  armaments  of  the  republic,  those  galleys 
which  she  sent  forth  to  fight  Turk  and  Moor.  Here,  too,  was 
the  "  Bucentaur"  built,  which  bore  the  doges,  who,  dropping  a 
ring  into  the  sea,  were  wedded  with  the  Adriatic.  Shakespeare 
has  made  all  English-speaking  nations  so  familiar  with  Venice 
that  when  on  the  Campo  del  Carmine  we  passed  the  residence 
of  one  Cristoforo  Moro,  some  of  us  were  even  inclined  to  be- 
lieve that  here  Othello  dwelt,  and  that  in  that  gloomy  first 
story  poor  Desdemona  met  her  fate.  The  churches  of  Venice 
are  all  famous,  and  most  especially  is  the  one  called  the  Santa 
Maria  Gloriosa  de'  Frari.  Here  is  the  monument  erected  to 
Titian,  as  a  tribute  from  a  king  to  the  greatest  of  painters.  In 
fact  all  Venice  seems  to  pay  honor  to  its  two  greatest  artists, 
Titian  and  Tintoretto.  The  church  of  Santa  Giovanni  e  Paolo 
was  also  visited,  famous  for  its  tomb  of  one  of  the  best  of  the 
old  doges.  We  were  fortunate  in  having  but  a  single  day  of  bad 
weather  in  Venice.  Though  she  may  be  "  Queen  of  the  Seas," 
American  residents   complain   of  the  disagreeable  character  of 


174 


ROME,   FLORENCE,    VENICE,    AND  MILAN. 


the  climate  in  winter,  and  if  any  reliance  can  be  placed  in 
books  of  sanitary  science,  Venice  is  not  the  healthiest  city  in 
the  world.  But  now  in  lull  spring  the  climate  was  delicious. 
As  to  the  people,  they  seemed  to  us  to  be  the  most  light- 
hearted  we  had  yet  met  with,  and  a  singularly  handsome  race, 
apparently  proud  of  their  newly  acquired  liberty,  and  certainly 

the 


having  all 
possibilities  of 
regaining  their 
former  high  po- 
sition in  Europe. 
Their  language 
even  to  our  un- 
tutored ears  was 
melodious  to  a 
degree,  for  the 
Venetians  in 
their  common 
dialect  have  a 
way  of  dropping 
the  consonants, 
a  n  d  indulging 
only  the  vowels, 
which  is  strange- 
ly musical. 

The  c  o  m- 
merce  of  Venice, 
though  h  a  r  dl y 
as  yet  improv- 
ing, must  in  time 
sympathize  with 
its  manufactures.  There  are  certainly  revivals  in  taste,  and 
the  rediscovery  of  what  are  called  the  lost  arts.  Some  of  us 
visited  the  glass-works  of  Murano.  Now  in  times  past,  say 
three  or  four  centuries,  it  was  to  Italy  that  the  world  was 
indebted  for  all  the  refinements  of  art,  and  when  Queen 
Elizabeth   and  her   courtiers    supped   on   common   platters,  and 


MILAN.  375 

drank  from  coarse  cups,  it  was  Italy  which  made  divine  majolica 
and  Venetian  glass.  The  art  of  making  this  delicate  glass 
has  been  reinvented  at  Murano,  and  to-day  the  same  delicate 
conceptions,  the  inspirations  of  the  glass-blower,  are  turned  out 
in  Venice.  Venice  has  always  been  famous  for  her  beads,  and 
she  produces  them  still  in  untold  quantity. 

It  was  on  the  26th  of  April  that  we  left  Venice  for  Milan, 
and  as  usual  on  our  departure,  the  General  was  the  recipient  of 
the  well-wishes  of  all  the  Americans,  who  had  assembled  to  bid 
him  good-by. 

On  the  road  from  Venice  to  Milan  we  skirted  through  por- 
tions of  a  country,  where  the  culture  of  the  lands  was  familiar 
to  some  of  the  party.  As  April  was  closing,  and  May  with  full 
spring  was  beginning,  the  famous  rice  fields  of  Upper  Lom- 
bardy  were  being  clothed  with  their  emerald  green.  We  arrived 
at  Milan  on  the  27th  of  April,  and  the  Ex-President  was  re- 
ceived by  the  prefect,  syndic,  and  other  notabilities  of  the  city, 
who  paid  most  flattering  compliments  to  our  chief.  In  fact 
we  find  that  nowhere  in  Europe  is  the  distinguished  part  per- 
formed by  General  Grant  in  the  history  of  the  United  States 
better  known  or  more  fully  appreciated  than  in  the  kingdom 
of  Italy.  Innumerable  Italian  officers  and  soldiers  were  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States  during  the  civil  strife,  and  many 
claim  the  distinction  of  having  been  the  General's  comrades  in 
arms. 

If  we  had  been  impressed  with  the  grandeur  of  St.  Peter's, 
we  were  amazed  with  the  beauty  of  the  Duomo.  Up  and  up 
sprang  the  pinnacles  of  pure  white  marble,  all  cut  and  carved, 
the  immense  structure  seeming  as  light  as  a  poetical  conception, 
surmounted  by  innumerable  statues.  To  count  these  statues 
has  been  the  task  of  many  a  traveler,  but  their  number  is  be- 
wildering. Some  put  it  at  eight  thousand,  others  at  five  thou- 
sand ;  but  a  happy  mean  may  be  struck  somewhere  between  the 
two.  If  one  wonders  at  the  lofty  structure  which  rises  in  the 
purity  of  chaste  white  stone  to  the  heavens,  below  there  is  still 
another  church.  Here  are  the  remains  of  the  pious  St.  Charles 
Borromeo.      The  Duomo  of  Milan   is  a  place  of  relics,  for  here 


37< 


ROME,   FLORENCE,    VENICE,   AND  MILAN. 


the  true  believer  may  see  nails  from  the  cross,  and  a  fragment 
from  the  rod  of  Moses,  besides  many  teeth  which  once  belonged 
to  biblical  worthies.  Returning  to  this  cathedral,  he  who  has 
not  seen  it  can  have  no  conception  of  what  is  Gothic  tempered 
by  Italian  feeling  in  its  most  graceful  manner.  At  the  church 
of  Santa  Maria  delle  Grazie  there  is  that  object  of  the  greatest 
interest,  the  fresco  of  the  "  Last  Supper,"  by  Da  Vinci.  Alas! 
this  work,  imbued  with  the  truest  essence  of  piety,  is  fast 
vanishing  through  the  dampness  of  the  place.      It  is  true  the 


world  has  made  a  million  of  copies  of  this  work,  and  all  know 
the  divine  simplicity  of  the  "  Last  Supper,"  as  far  as  paper  and 
engraving  will  permit,  but  none  but  those  who  have  seen  with 
their  own  eyes  Leonardo  da  Vinci's  fresco  on  the  dingy  wall, 
with  the  fast-fleeting  colors,  can  ever  appreciate  the  imposing 
holiness  of  this  creation. 

Milan  is  a  bright,  cheerful  city,  and  certainly  the  most  pros- 
perous in  Italy.  It  has  a  great  reputation  for  wealth  and  for 
the  possibility  of  obtaining  all  the  comforts  of  life.  Besides 
being  an  artistic  center,  as  far  as  painting  and  sculpture  is  con- 


MILAN.  ,-_ 

o/  / 

cerned,  as  a  musical  school  it  is  very  well  known  in  the  United 
States.  Here  the  incipient  prima  donna,  who  has  made  her 
debut  at  some  small  village  church  choir  in  the  far  West,  comes 
to  learn  how  to  breathe  correctly,  to  improve  her  notes,  and  to 
turn  her  trills  into  gold. 

The  great  temple  of  music  in  Italy,  after  the  Fenice  of 
Naples,  is  the  Teatro  della  Scala  of  Milan.  It  is  there  that  all 
the  great  singers  have  gained  their  reputations,  and  operas 
have  been  first  played.  Some  of  us  witnessed  an  operatic  per- 
formance at  La  Scala.  The  instrumentation  was  crood,  but  as 
to  the  singers,  why,  they  had  flown.  New  York  offers  now 
greater  inducements  to  great  vocalists,  and  though  Italy  creates 
the  singers,  they  find  their  plaudits  and  their  money  in  the 
United  States. 

Milan  is  so  conveniently  situated  between  Italy  and  Switzer- 
land, so  near  to  France,  has  so  many  advantages,  that  it  is  the 
favorite  halting-place  of  Americans.  In  Milan,  the  Ex-Presi- 
dent had  a  constant  round  of  American  callers,  and  what 
with  paying  and  receiving  visits,  seeing  churches  and  monu- 
ments, the  few  days  the  General  had  to  pass  in  the  city  sped 
rapidly.  But  Paris  was  an  objective  point,  and  the  Paris  Exhi- 
bition;  so  our  flying  column  had  its  instructions  given  it,  and  by 
the  end  of  the  week  our  leader  bid  us  on  once  more  to  the 
gayest  capital  of  all  Europe. 


■vr^h-. 


si2iia"S.it 


i»S4WH 


ky^' ::  IfWt^ 


lit*  JIM.. 


AMSTERDAM. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


HOLLAND. 


|ROM  Italy  to  France  our  journey  was  both  pleasant 
and  speedy.  Everywhere  along  the  route  the  usual 
civilities  were  offered  us,  and  we  had  all  the  advan- 
tages of  the  best  carriages  on  the  railroads,  and  at  the 
stations  the  functionaries  of  the  various  companies  were  all 
desirous  of  paying  attention  to  General  Grant.  It  was  on  the 
7th  of  May  that  we  once  more  arrived  in  Paris.  On  the  3d  of 
the  month  Marshal  MacMahon  had  opened  the  Paris  Exhibi- 
tion, and  Paris  was  now  talking  of  nothing  else  than  this  Ex- 
hibition. The  American  Centennial  has  been  such  a  recent 
event,  that  I  need  not  trouble  my  readers  with  any  description 
of  the  French  Exhibition.  In  fact,  the  accounts  which  have 
been  sent  home  have  been  undoubtedly  ample.  On  arriving 
in  Paris,  the  American  colony  again  paid  their  respects  to  the 

378 


THE  PARIS  EXHIBITION.  ,Vo 

J/9 

Ex-President,  and  though  he  was  desirous  of  repose,*  still  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  refuse  the  many  kind  invitations  offered 
him.  General  Grant's  coming  to  Paris  had  been  timed  so  that 
he  might  be  present  at  about  the  opening  of  the  Exposition. 
On  the  nth  of  May,  Mr.  Richard  C.  McCormick,  Commis- 
sioner General  for  the  United  States,  called  on  General  Grant, 
to  fix  a  time  to  visit  the  Exhibition.  Saturday  being  the  day 
most  convenient,  the  General,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Grant 
and  a  large  party  of  friends,  visited  it.  At  the  Exhibition  the 
General  was  treated  with  exceeding  courtesy  by  the  directors 
and  officers,  and  in  the  American  Department  he  was  cor- 
dially welcomed  by  his  fellow  citizens.  The  General  is  the 
hardest-working  man  I  know  of.  What  with  dinners,  soirees, 
marriages,  and  even  christenings,  he  is  a  busier  man  than  he 
was  at  the  White  House.  If  anything,  the  General,  though 
still  looking  strong  and  healthy,  is  just  a  little  thinner  than 
when  he  started  on  the  trip  to  the  East.  Anything  like 
moderation  in  our  pleasures  seems  impossible,  for  invitations 
from  distinguished  foreign  personages  and  from  his  own  people 
are  coming  in  all  the  time.  Plans  for  the  future  are  made 
in  the  kindest  way  by  the  Americans  for  the  General.  The 
national  festivities  of  the  glorious  Fourth  of  July  are  antici- 
pated. The  leading  Americans  in  Paris  met  at  the"  Legation 
on  the  ist  of  June,  and  after  some  discussion,  it  was  decided 
that  a  fete  should  be  given  at  the  Pre  Catalan.  The  Pre 
Catalan  is  a  charming  retreat  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  and 
just  the  place  where  a  patriotic  tendency  toward  fireworks 
could  be  indulged  in,  but  the  General  will  not  be  present.  We 
are  ever  on  the  go.  We  prepare  in  Paris  for  further  extended 
travels.  Not  that  in  the  present  century  even  a  journey  to 
Russia  requires  any  peculiar  preparation.  What  all  of  us 
want,  however,  is  some  repose,  and  we  try  and  get  it.  Perhaps 
Paris  is  not  a  place  where  much  rest  can  be  taken.  There  is 
always  something  to  be  seen,  something  to  be  done,  and  we 
go  sight-seeing,  and  visit  the  many  charming  environs  of  Paris. 
The  French  capital  is  of  course  to  be  our  center  of  operations, 
the  base  from  which  our  supplies  are  to  be  drawn.      We  say 


:8o 


HOLLAND. 


this  as  if  it  -were  a  kind  of  necessity,  and  Paris  a  city  of  refuge 
in  fact,  and  we  like  to  indulge  in  the  idea  that  we  will  come 
back  to  it. 

The  presence  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  the  Crown  Prince 
of  Denmark  has  added  singular  lustre  to  the  Exhibition. 
The  heir  to  the  throne  of  Great  Britain  has  gained  many 
friends  by  his  admirable  business  methods  and  kindly  sugges- 
tions.   We  visit  the  Exposition  several  times,  and  the  riches  of 


ON    THE   CANAL— HOLLAND. 


the  Trocadero  amaze  us.  Still  we  frankly  confess  that  the 
constant  strain  necessary  where  one  sees  so  much,  ends  in 
fatigue ;  and  though  Paris  never  can  pall  on  one's  tastes,  the  fact 
of  our  being  here  brings  with  it  so  many  visits,  so  much  gad- 
ding about,  that  at  last,  for  one  of  the  few  times  in  his  life, 
our  leader  orders  a  retreat.  We  are  to  seek  the  needed  rest  in 
Holland.  It  is  among  the  Dutch  polders  that  the  necessary 
repose  is  to  come.  I  for  one  do  not  believe  that  it  will  ever 
come.     The  Ex-President  cannot  assume  the   cognito — there 


LE  PAYS  BAS.  ^gl 

would  be  no  end  of  snobbishness  about  that ;  but  I  know  that 
while  in  Europe  the  General  would  have  given  anything  to 
have  passed  himself  off  as  a  simple  American,  traveling  for 
health  or  pleasure.  But  such  things  cannot  be  helped.  It  is 
one  of  the  annoyances  of  greatness  to  be  stared  at,  to  be 
pointed  at,  and  to  seem  to  be  all  the  time  utterly  unconscious 
of  being  a  center  of  curiosity.  No  wonder  the  General  is  said 
to  be  stolid,  to  have  an  impassive  and  undemonstrative  face. 
I  think  when  a  man  is  stared  at  for  ten  or  fifteen  years  it  be- 
comes a  necessary  provision  of  nature  to  wear  something  of  an 
immovable  mask.  We  really  all  are  glad  that  we  are  going, 
and  at  last  we  bid  our  numerous  friends  good-by.  I  think 
the  General  is  moved  more  than  usual,  as  his  fellow  citizens 
throng  around  him  at  the  railroad  station,  all  wishing  him  and 
Mrs.  Grant  a  pleasant  journey  and  a  speedy  return. 

I  will  not  detail  the  route  to  Holland.  The  approach  to 
the  kingdom  of  the  Netherlands  is,  topographically  at  least,  in- 
stantly perceptible.  The  country  is  flat,  flat  as  a  pancake,  and 
through  it  run  canals.  We  will  not  accept  the  witty  French- 
man's description  of  Le  Pays  Bas  save  in  the  first  two  words, 
canaux — canards.  It  is  true  there  are  canals,  and  we  see  plenty 
of  ducks.  We  soon  appreciate  that  this  is  a  country  which 
struggles  for  absolute  terrestrial  existence.  Some  one  said  that 
Holland  was  a  compromise  between  the  land  and  the  sea.  It 
is  the  one  element  which  is  forever  fighting  with  the  other. 
Such  a  long  battle  has  at  least  shown  man's  superiority  over 
the  sea.  Still  it  is  wonderful  to  think  that  we  shall  pass  on 
a  railroad  which  is  lower  than  the  bed  of  an  adjacent  river, 
and  that  the  tides  of  the  North  Sea,  which  beat  against  the 
dunes,  dikes,  and  sandhills  of  Northern  Holland,  rise  eleven  feet 
above  Amsterdam,  and  that  in  certain  winds  the  apparently 
torpid  Maas,  if  not  kept  out,  would  flow  some  ten  feet  deep 
over  all  Amsterdam.  To  think  of  a  great  prosperous  country 
whose  very  existence  depends  upon  the  stopping  up  of  a  rat 
hole  !  It  is  certainly  this  watchfulness,  this  vigilance,  which  has 
imparted  to  the  Dutch  character  those  marked  qualities  of  in- 
dustry and  perseverance.     It  is  always  a  land  which  has  to  be 


;82 


HOLLAMK 


won.  As  we  speed  along  in  the  comfortable  railroad  cars  (like 
all  things  Dutch  they  are  broad-gauge  roads),  the  first  aspects 
of  Holland  strike  us.  The  season  is  fairly  advanced,  and  the 
grass  in  the  fields  is  of  the  tenderest  green.  Great  lazy  cattle, 
sleek  and  comfortable,  browse  in  the  fields.  We  skirt  a  canal. 
Slowly  and  deliberately  moves  the  boat.  The  horses  tug  it 
along,  but  the  man  who  drives,  who  plods  beside  his  well-fed 
beasts,  has  no  whip.  Those 
horses  never  have  felt  the  lash, 
and  never  will.  The  canal  boat 
is  gayly  painted,  and  in  the  stern  Is 
is  the  typical  Dutchman,  with  a  \wj&jfr 
pipe  in  his  mouth. 


LAKE   AT  THE   HAGUE. 


slacken  up  speed  on  the  road  I  catch  a  glimpse  into  the  interior 
of  the  cabin  of  a  boat,  a  trekschuyt.  It  is  neatness  itself.  In 
the  window  of  this  floating  house  there  is  a  whole  ledce  of 
blooming  tulips.  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  the  people  I  see 
tilling  the  fields  are  the  most  mechanical  and  plodding  of  hu- 


THE  HAGUE. 


383 


man  beings.  They  seem  slow-gaited,  but  I  do  not  recognize 
the  dull  look.  I  am  quite  sure,  however,  that  while  that  far- 
mer's boy  is  putting  his  spade  in  the  ground  an  American  in  the 
same  time  would  have  dug  up  six  square  feet  and  loaded  all  the 
soil  in  a  barrow  if  necessary.  What  I  do  take  pleasure  in 
asserting  is  the  wholesome,  well-fed  appearance  of  the  country- 
folk. I  admire,  too,  the  costume,  particularly  that  of  the  wo- 
men. It  is  tidy  to  a  degree.  It  is  some  holiday,  or  there  is 
a  fair  in  the  neighborhood,  for  all  the  lusty  Dutch  lasses  wear 
towering  white  caps,  and  on  each  side  of  their  heads  are  gold 
or  gilt  pieces  of  metal  not  much  smaller  than  saucers.  I  notice, 
too,  no  end  of  jewelry  and  embroidery.  Evidently  it  is  a  dairy 
country,  for  I  see  milkpans  of  ruddy  copper,  and  they  are  scru- 
pulously clean,  for  the  metal  glistens  in  the  sun.  There  is  no 
makeshift  in  these  people's  habits.  Though  the  land  they  live 
on  may  be  swept  away  to-morrow,  the  houses  are  built  to  last  a 
thousand  years.  I  note,  too,  the  thrift  which  is  apparent.  I 
see  no  one  in  rags.  Holland  all  of  it  is  historic  ground,  and 
we  Americans  are  fairly  familiar  with  its  story.  It  was  from 
this  country  that  we  have  received  many  of  the  best  emigrants 
that  ever  peopled  America.  Some  of  the  Dutch  names  of  the 
towns  are  quite  homelike  to  many  of  the  party.  If  not  for  the 
direct  interest  we  feel  in  a  country  which  once  held  sway  over  a 
large  part  of  the  United  States,  we  feel  a  very  just  pride  when 
we  remember  that  it  is  an  American  who  has  done  most  to  record 
Holland's  brilliant  history,  and  to  have  told  to  the  whole  world 
how  she  fought  and  struggled  for  independence,  and  at  last 
humbled  the  Spaniard.  On  we  speed,  past  the  green  fields, 
one  very  much  like  another,  until  almost  at  the  beginning  of 
our  journey  we  long  for  a  single  hill,  be  it  ever  so  slight  a 
mound,  in  order  to  break  up  the  monotony.  At  last,  toward 
midday,  we  reach  the  Hague — the  s'Gravenhagen  as  the  Dutch 
call  it — which  is  the  court  capital.  Our  arrival  is  expected,  and 
the  General  has  every  courtesy  paid  him.  The  reception  at  the 
railroad  is  of  the  most  imposing  character.  I  cannot  help  but 
smile  when  I  hear  that  the  Ex-President  is  to  be  treated  to  a 
grand  review.      Evidently  the  General  is  in  for  it.      I  honestly 


;84 


HOLLAND. 


confess  not  to  have  seen  the  review,  but  I  suppose  our  chief 
did.  I  have  never  received  from  General  Grant  any  very  par- 
ticular information  in  regard  to  this  military  display,  which  I  am 
led  to  suppose  was  a  very  fine  one.  I  think  I  only  remember 
the  General's  saying  that  the  Dutchman  under  arms  was  a  new 
creature,  and  had  all  the  necessary  alacrity,  though  at  the  same 
time  his  steadiness  could  always  be  counted  upon.  One  most 
pleasant  invitation  was  to  partake  of  a  luncheon   offered   to 

General   Grant   by 


his  Royal  Highness 
Prince  Frederick,  the 
king's  uncle.  This 
repast  took  place  at 
the  royal  country-seat 
in  a  superb  park,  some 
mile  and  a  half  from 
the  Hague.  The 
Huis  in  t'Bosch,  or 
house  in  the  woods, 
is  a  reeal  villa.     The 


MONUMENT  OF    INDEPENDENCE. 


luncheon  was  a  delightful  one,  and  was  rendered  very  pleasant 
by  the  amiability  of  the  prince,  who  was  most  anxious  that 
the  General  should  spend  his  time  pleasantly  in  Holland. 
The    Huis  in  t'Bosch  recalls  the  time   of    Henry  of  Orange, 


EAST-INDIAN   COLLECTIONS. 


385 


having  been  built  by  the  prince's  wife  in  memory  of  the  Thirty 
Years'  War.  This  palace  has  the  most  famous  collection  of 
Japanese  curiosities  in  the  world.  As  Holland  had  for  many 
years  the  monopoly  of  trade  with  Japan,  Netherland  inte- 
riors are  stocked  with  Japanese  china  and  curios  of  the  most 
ancient  and  rare  character.  We  are  favorably  impressed  with 
the  Hague,  but  are  told  that  in  many  respects  it  is  unlike  the 
other  cities  of  Holland.  It  seems  pervaded  with  an  air  of 
fashion  and  gayety,  and  is  fairly  alive  all  the  day.  There  are 
wide  streets  and  avenues,  and  the  equipages  are  countless.  It 
is  like  Hyde  Park,  save  that  it  is  so  flat.  There  are  innume- 
rable open  squares  in  the  city,  all  as  level  as  a  billiard  table. 
In  the  Buittenhof  we  admire  a  fine  statue  of  William  II.,  who 
bore  a  prominent  position  in  many  a  hard-fought  battle-field, 
commencing  with  Badajos  and  continuing  even  beyond  Water- 
loo. There  are  certainly  two  royal  fighting  families  in  Europe, 
and  these  are  the  sovereigns  of  Italy  and  Holland.  Pluck 
seems  to  run  in  the  blood.  We  visit  the  museum,  and  have 
here  our  first  introduction  to  that  immense  wealth  of  pic- 
tures which  Holland  possesses.  Here  are  the  great  Jordaens, 
and  the  fine  Rubens,  the  Van  Dycks  and  Wouvermans.  We 
see  the  first  masters  of  the  more  minute  Dutch  art,  the  Teniers 
and  the  Gerard  Douws.  We  enchant  our  eyes  on  the  great 
inventor  almost  of  landscape,  Ruysdael  ;  but  above  all  we 
gather  around  the  celebrated  bull  due  to  Paul  Potter.  It  is 
an  inexhaustible  gallery,  containing  the  finest  specimens  of  all 
the  schools.  In  the  museum  we  commence  to  appreciate  the 
importance  Holland  assumes  from  her  East-Indian  colonies. 
Here  are  rooms  devoted  to  collections  made  in  Ceylon,  in  Java, 
and  in  Surinam.  As  usual  the  General  is  in  receipt  of  invita- 
tions to  accept  the  hospitality  of  all  the  leading  great  cities  of 
Holland.  The  Dutch  are  said  to  be  a  most  undemonstrative 
people,  but  judging  by  the  reception  the  General  is  receiving, 
this  cannot  be  the  case.  I  suppose  his  enthusiastic  welcome 
is  due  not  alone  to  the  distinguished  position  the  chief  of 
our  party  has  held  for  so  many  years  in  the  history  of  his 
country,  but  because  of  the  most  pleasant  relationships  which 
25 


^56  HOLLAND. 

have  always  existed  between  Holland  and  America.  I  am 
sure  the  General  is  delighted  with  his  visit  to  the  Hague. 
It  is  true  there  is  much  sight-seeing,  but  in  keeping  with  the 
Dutch  character  matters  are  not  driven — or  rushed — as  in 
France  or  even  Italy.  We  feel  for  once  more  than  pleased 
with  this  most  welcome  Dutch  slowness,  and  look  forward  to 
its  continuance  even  in  Rotterdam  and  Amsterdam.  Some 
of  us   eo  to   Schevenin^en,  a  fashionable  sea  resort    not    far 


SCHEVENINGEN. 


distant  from  the  Hague.  Dare  I  call  Scheveningen  the  Coney 
Island  of  the  Hague?  Heaven  forbid  !  Scheveningen  is  the 
most  aristocratic  of  watering  places.  Here  come  fine  ladies 
and  gallants  from  all  Europe.  Bath  houses  are  plenty,  and 
those  peculiar  lumbering  machines  which  are  driven  into  the 
sea.  Promiscuous  bathing  is  hardly  a  la  mode  in  Europe,  and 
though  the  North  Sea,  at  least  off  the  coast  of  Holland,  is  of 
the  most  outrageously  democratic  character,  patrician  and  ple- 
beian dive,  dip,  and  duck  in  different  waters.  Scheveningen, 
though  the  Long  Branch,  the  Atlantic  City  of  Holland,  is  a 


ROTTERDAM. 


387 


great  center  of  fisheries,  and  from  this  port  there  sail  innume- 
rable craft  which  plow  up  the  North  Sea  in  pursuit  of  her- 
rings, turbots,  etc.  Fish  is  of  quite  as  vital  importance  to 
Holland  as  it  is  to  Norway  and  Sweden,  and  the  greatest  atten- 
tion is  paid  not  only  to  ichthyology,  but  to  all  the  economical 
methods  of  preparing  fish.  If  it  is  to  Frenchmen  that  is  due 
the  method  of  preparing  champagne,  it  is  a  Dutchman  who  first 
pickled  and  smoked  a  herring.  Dutchmen  are  intrepid  sailors, 
for  there  is  no  coast  more  tempestuous  than  their  own,  and  the 
Zuyder-Zee,  with  its  shallows  and  drifting  sands,  makes  alone 
a  thorough  school  for  seamen.  It  was  these  very  fisheries 
which  originally  gave  Holland  her  supremacy  over  the  waters, 
and  from  her  seamen  sprang  the  Piet  Heins,  the  Tromps,  the 
Ruyters,  and  the  Everstens.  There  was  for  centuries  no  mart 
in  the  world  which  was  not  visited  by  Dutch  ships,  and  it  was 
these  fishermen  who  brought  back  to  Holland  the  tea,  the  cof- 
fee, the  spice,  the  sugar  of  the  world.  We  have  not  yet  seen 
enough  of  Holland  to  compare  her  present  condition  with  the 
magnificence  of  her  past.  The  most  conservative  of  all  coun- 
tries, since  Belgium  was  wrested  from  her,  she  has  escaped  all 
internal  strife,  and  has  probably  under  good  rulers  made  the 
most  of  the  occasion.  Still  as  the  ocean  beats  resistlessly 
against  the  sands  at  Scheveningen  we  think  again  of  the  toil 
and  trouble  which  is  ever  going  onto  preserve  the  country  from 
the  inroads  of  the  water,  the  millions  of  money  which  must  ever 
be  spent  on  this  same  endless  task.  One  cannot  but  think  that 
this  amount  of  human  energy,  if  it  might  be  turned  to  some  other 
end,  might  have  rendered  Holland  a  mighty  country  rivaling 
England.  It  is  true  that  a  people  who,  living  in  a  semi-tempe- 
rate zone,  by  fighting  against  the  inclemency  of  a  climate,  en- 
gender habits  of  industry  and  thrift.  Looking  back  to  the  ge- 
ological conditions  of  Holland,  and  viewing  this  limitless  sea 
at  Scheveningen  ever  thundering  on,  threatening  to  crumble 
away  the  land  piecemeal,  one  is  led  to  admire  more  and  more 
the  dauntless  courage  of  these  honest  Dutch  people  which  has 
overcome  not  only  man's  violence,  but  arrested  even  the  extra- 
ordinary attacks  of  nature.     You  cannot  help  reverting  again 


388 


HOLLAND. 


and  again  to  this  fight  between  land  and  water,  for  from  Sche- 
veningen  to  the  Hague  extends  a  wonderful  embankment,  a 
miracle  of  entrineeriny  skill.  We  notice  this  work,  but  an 
officer  of  engineers  who  is  with  us  tells  us  that  though,  good  in 
its  way,  it  is  insignificant  in  comparison  to  other  methods  of 
protection. 

Our  visit,  the  one  of  ceremony,  having  been  paid  to  the 
Hague,  after  a  pleasant  stay  at  the  capital  we  take  our  depar- 
ture for  Rotterdam.  We  pass  Delft,  famous  for  its  pottery 
(of  course  we  have  a  pottery  and  porcelain  maniac  collector  in 
the  party),  and  soon  reach  Rotterdam,  famous  for  its  commerce. 
And  at  once  we  commence  making  the  rounds  of  the  city. 
We  are  amazed  to  find  that  there  are  so  many  Americans  who 
reside  in  Rotterdam,  and  who  declare  that  it  is  the  most  plea- 
sant city  of  Europe.  We  notice  now  the  real  true  Dutchman  ; 
and  certainly  he  is  an  inveterate  smoker,  for  never  by  chance 
does  he  let  his  pipe  go  out.  He  is  busy  enough,  however,  and 
seems  to  have  a  certain  amount  of  business  hurry.  We  hope 
to  see  houses  which  will  recall  to  our  mind  the  old  mansions 
which  the  Dutchmen  built  in  New  York.  We  do  find  some 
resemblance  as  to  outline  with  the  houses  which  used  to  exist 
on  Manhattan  Island,  on  the  Hudson  River,  even  on  Staten 
Island  ;  but  as  to  color,  we  are  quite  shocked,  as  the  Dutch  have 
a  queer  taste  for  painting  all  their  old  houses  with  the  most 
vivid  colors.  The  streets  are,  however,  quite  picturesque,  and 
the  effects  are  heightened  by  the  numerous  canals.  In  fact, 
Rotterdam  seems  like  a  continuous  seaport — a  city  with  water 
fronts  lying  on  all  sides  of  it,  and  in  the  middle  of  it.  It  is  an 
assemblage  of  houses  and  vessels.  In  Venice,  the  canals  are 
spanned  by  bridges,  which  cannot  interfere  with  the  gondolas, 
but  here  it  is  a  good-sized  vessel,  with  moderately  high  masts, 
that  has  to  go  through  the  town.  Drawbridges  are  constant, 
and  communication  for  foot  passengers  is  often  cut  off.  But 
your  Dutchman  is  patient,  and  he  knows  how  to  wait.  One 
thing  which  amused  many  of  the  party  was  the  use  of  dogs  as 
beasts  of  burden.  I  cannot  help  remarking  that  some  of  the 
poor  brutes  looked  very  much  overworked,  and  we  wished  that 


ROTTERDAM.  ,gg 

a  Dutch  Bergh  would  arise.  Rotterdam  with  its  122,000  in- 
habitants shows  on  her  docks  and  quays  the  commercial  cha- 
racter of  the  people,  and  there  is  no  better  place  to  judge  of  it 
than  near  the  Boompjes,  where  the  steamers  are  massed,  some 
just  coming  in,  others  going  out,  bringing  in  and  taking  away 


the  products  of  two  con- 
tinents. We  seek  the 
market  house,  and  stand 
on  the  bridge  and  find  the 
statue  of  Erasmus.  It  hap- 
pens to  be  a  Saturday 
morning  when  a  party  of  us  saunter  along  the  streets.  Busy 
women  servants,  no  light  ephemeral  creatures,  but  heavy  solid 
girls,  are  cleaning  the  outsides  of  the  houses.  There  is  water 
now  not  only  in  the  canals,  but  on  the  sidewalks.  We  escape 
a  drenching  from  a  bucket  just  in  time  to  be  bespattered  by  a 
suction  tube  worked  in  a  pail.  "It  is  delightfully  familiar," 
remarks  a  Philadelphian  who  is  of  the  party,  as  he  catches  a 
shower   from   a  mop.      Our   destination   is   the   Church   of  St. 


,„,-.  HOLLAND. 

Lawrence,  the  Groote  Kerk,  and  we  are  shown  the  monuments 
sacred  to  the  memories  of  many  Dutch  worthies.  The  Boy- 
mans  Museum  contains  a  superb  collection  of  pictures,  where 
we  spend  many  hours.  The  visit  of  the  General  is  made 
agreeable  in  every  way,  and  a  grand  dinner  was  given  in  his 
honor  by  the  burgomaster  of  the  city,  which  was  numerously 
attended.  We  become  more  and  more  conscious  from  the 
toasts  given  at  this  dinner  how  sincere  is  the  relationship  be- 
tween America  and  Holland,  and  how  the  Dutchman  is  not 
only  proud  of  the  settlements  he  has  planted  in  our  New  World, 
but  believes  that  with  the  increasing  commercial  prosperity  of 
the  United  States  even  closer  ties  can  be  made. 

Our  journey  from  Rotterdam  to  Amsterdam  is  a  short  one, 
for  there  are  no  great  distances  to  be  covered  here.  The 
country  through  which  we  pass  is  very  characteristic  of  Hol- 
land, for  without  man's  constant  care  and  vigilance  the  Zuyder- 
Zee  would  burst  bounds  and  sweep  these  wonderful  farms  and 
blooming  gardens  into  the  North  Sea.  As  we  near  Amsterdam 
we  notice  all  the  appearances  of  a  great  city.  If  the  Hague 
is  the  court  capital,  it  is  Amsterdam  which  is  the  commer- 
cial center.  Here  are  forests  of  masts,  for  this  great  Dutch 
city  rises  from  the  bosom  of  the  sea.  Once  where  Amster- 
dam stood  there  was  a  marsh,  so  that  the  city,  like  Venice, 
stands  on  piles.  This  is  the  mart  which  has  kept  up  for 
a  thousand  years  her  commercial  prestige.  Italian  cities  in 
whose  market  places  were  once  heaped  the  treasures  of  a 
world,  have  passed  away,  but  despite  time  and  circumstance 
Amsterdam  will  ever  hold  her  own.  We  at  once  appreciate 
one  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  place,  and  that  is  the  bad 
smell.  It  may  be  fish  or  anything  else;  we  are  told  it  is  the 
drainage.  We  think  that  if  Coleridge  had  ever  visited  Amster- 
dam he  would  not  have  maligned  Cologne.  We  visit  the 
various  quarters  of  the  city,  and  easily  distinguish  the  great 
social  differences  which  exist.  Here  is  a  commercial  quarter,  a 
manufacturing  district,  a  portion  thronged  with  ships;  here  the 
Jews'  quarter,  and  there  the  most  fashionable  quarter.  Am- 
sterdam  is  wonderful  in    its   picturesqueness.     There   are  tall, 


AMSTERDAM. 


391 


antiquated  houses,  all  with  gables,  with  quaint  roofs,  and  queer 
windows.  We  do  not  see  many  new  houses  building.  Per- 
haps such  modern  edifices  are  constructed,  but  they  quickly 
assimilate  with  the  couleur  locale  of  the  city.  We  have  heard 
some  chimes  in  the  other  cities  of  Holland,  we  had  a  foretaste 
of  it  in  Belgium,  but  in  Amsterdam  it  is  a  continuous  clang. 
To  those  unaccustomed 
to  it  a  chime  in  the  neigh- 
borhood is  a  nuisance, 
and  some  of  the  party, 
I  am  sorry  to  state,  broke 
out  into  open  rebellion 
about  the  bells.  I  sup- 
pose Dutchmen  in  time 
never  hear  them.  I  am 
pleased  with  many  of  the 
£Ood  Dutch  customs 
brought  into  New  York, 
but  am  glad  bell-chiming 
in  excess  was  omitted.  It 
is  a  waste  of  human  ener- 
gy or  mechanical  power  to 
set  bells  tolling,  and  the 
exact  distinction  between 
music  and  noise,  as  im- 
parted by  a  bell,  a  good 
many  people  have  never 
been  able  to  determine.  Our  usual  round  of  sight-seeing  com- 
menced, and  was  leisurely  accomplished.  The  museum,  with 
its  superb  collections  of  Rubens  and  Rembrandts,  delighted 
us,  as  did  the  Van  der  Hoop  and  Foder  collections.  Churches 
in  Amsterdam,  as  in  all  the  towns  of  the  Netherlands,  are  not 
remarkable  for  either  outside  architecture  or  inside  decoration. 
It  is  a  certain  simplicity  which  is  characteristic  of  the  Dutchman. 
No  matter  how  grand  a  Dutchman  may  be,  he  is  never  anxious 
to  make  a  display  of  it.  A  merchant  in  Holland  by  hard  work 
and   honesty  gains  a  fortune.       He    is   the   last   person   to   be 


CANAL,    AMSTERDAM. 


,n,  HOLLAND. 

ostentatious  about  it.  He  does  not  think  of  extending  his 
house,  of  buying  a  carriage,  or  of  traveling.  Perhaps,  if  he  has 
artistic  tendencies,  he  may  buy  a  good  old  picture  or  so.  He 
may  slightly  increase  his  method  of  living,  allowing  himself 
or  his  family  some  few  luxuries.  If  he  does  spend  any  mo- 
ney it  will  be  to  beautify  some  little  garden  spot  a  mile  or  so 
from  the  city.  In  this  Eden  he  will  grow  his  tulips,  erect  a  quaint 
rococo  summer-house,  paint  it  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow,  and 
on  summer  evenings  will  come  and  smoke  his  pipe  there  and 
drink  his  coffee.  This  extreme  simplicity  of  taste,  and  the 
consequent  saving  of  money,  gave  Holland  supremacy  for  so 
many  years.  It  is  moderation  which  brings  innumerable  bene- 
fits. The  Dutch  character  is  grand  in  its  simplicity.  You 
hear  of  names  which  in  old  times  have  been  illustrious.  You 
go  to  visit  the  houses  where  a  William  the  Silent,  a  John 
de  Witt,  or  an  Admiral  Ruyter  lived,  and  you  see  a  small 
house.  There  is  nothing  parsimonious  about  the  Dutchman, 
he  is  simply  thrifty  It  is  a  practical  people,  capable  of  the  ut- 
most devotion  and  heroism.  An  invitation  is  sent  to  visit  the 
palace,  and  we  see  there  fragments  of  the  old  flags  which  Dutch- 
men tore  from  Alva's  standard  bearers.  Among  the  numerous 
monuments  of  commerce  the  principal  one  is  the  great  ex- 
change. Here  are  assembled  every  day  all  the  merchants  who 
dispose  of  the  produce  coming  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  If 
there  is  a  certain  amount  of  phlegm  in  the  Hollander,  it  is  not 
appreciable  when  he  is  in  the  heat  of  trade.  We  have  been 
now  long  enough  in  Holland  to  understand  the  system  of 
canals.  The  canals  cut  up  Amsterdam  into  some  ninety  islands, 
and  communication  is  kept  up  by  means  of  two  hundred  and 
eighty-five  bridges.  Of  course  the  utmost  care  is  taken  of 
these  canals,  and  the  expenditure  on  them  daily  amounts  to  a 
large  sum. 

In  honor  of  the  Ex-President  of  the  United  States,  a  sump- 
tuous banquet  was  given  him  by  some  fifty  of  the  leading  mer- 
chants of  the  city.  It  would  be  difficult  for  me  to  describe  the 
peculiar  magnificence  of  this  dinner,  which  was  attended  by 
all  the   dignitaries   of  the    city.      <  )n   the   sideboards  flashed  a 


BROEK. 


393 


wealth  of  plate,  some  of  which,  on  prior  occasions,  have  been 
used  to  welcome  the  former  heroes  of  the  country.  Of  course, 
the  General  had  to  make  a  speech,  which  I  am  led  to  believe 
was  fully  appreciated  by  the  Amsterdam  merchants,  who  very 
rightly  consider  that  brevity  even  in  an  afternoon  dinner 
speech  is  the  soul  of  wit.  The  General  is  highly  esteemed  by 
the  Dutchmen.  His 
peculiar  quiet  manner 
is  much  liked,  and  as  to 
the  constant  cigar  in 
his  mouth,  smoking  is 
such  a  national  Dutch 
custom  that  it  is  another 
bond  of  unio  n.  Nu- 
merous excursions  are 
made  to  places  of  in- 
terest near  Amsterdam. 
The  General  examines 
the  superb  work,  that 
miracle  of  engineering 
skill,  which  now  unites 
Amsterdam  with  the 
North   Sea,  thus   evad- 


ing the 


lono-  circuitous 


STREET,    HANOVER. 


route  through  the  Zuy- 
der  -  Zee.  A  superb 
collation  was  offered  to  the  General  by  one  of  the  directors 
of  the  canal,  which  was  a  most  delightful  entertainment. 
An  amusing  trip  was  made  to  Broek,  a  village  quite  near 
the  city,  having  the  celebrity  or  the  bad  fame  (either  the 
reader  pleases)  of  being  the  cleanest  place  in  the  world.  This 
is  a  village  where  everything  is  sacrificed  to  cleanliness.  Front 
doors  of  houses  in  Broek  are  never  opened,  save  when  an 
inmate  is  christened  or  is  buried.  You  don't  put  on  shoes 
when  you  go  into  a  house.  It  is  all  excessively  absurd,  and  is 
quite  as  much  to  be  condemned  as  too  much  dirt.  The  only 
living  things  that  can  possibly  enjoy  themselves  are  the  cows, 


•ig^  HOLLAND. 

who  live  rather  in  boudoirs  than  in  stalls,  and  it  is  ques- 
tionable whether  these  animals  would  not  like  to  have  a  good 
wallow  in  a  rich  mud-bottom  at  times.  Human  nature  in  Broek 
is  secondary  to  the  manufacture  of  zoetemel-kskaas — a  kind  of 
cheese,  and  the  gods  of  this  place  are  two,  the  broom  and  the 
scrubbing  brush.  A  pleasant  excursion  was  made  to  Haarlem, 
where  in  our  honor  the  grand  organ  of  the  world,  that  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Bavon,  was  played. 

We  had  spent  now  almost  a  fortnight  in  Holland  when  a 
new  objective  point — Berlin — directs  the  attention  of  our  chief. 
Perhaps  the  General  might  have  hastened  his  departure  for 
the  capital  of  Prussia,  but  for  the  miserable  attempt  made  to 
assassinate  the  brave  old  Emperor.  Now  that  news  has  come 
that  King  William  is  in  no  danger,  I  fancy  the  General  would 
like  to  be  present  in  Berlin  during  the  meeting  of  the  European 
Congress.  It  is  "  boot  and  saddle  "  with  us  then.  Holland 
is  left  behind,  and  we  pass  almost  directly  on  to  Berlin,  stop- 
ping by  the  way  at  Hanover.  To  Hanover  belongs  the  honor 
of  having  furnished  a  whole  line  of  sovereigns  to  England. 
We  visit  the  royal  palace,  and  are  somewhat  interested  in  the 
stables,  from  whence  come  the  famous  black  and  cream  ani- 
mals, which  are  used  even  to-day  on  occasions  of  state  by 
Queen  Victoria.  Some  of  us  make  a  slight  excursion  to 
Mount  Brilliant,  and  look  at  the  old  palace  of  Herrenhausen, 
a  monument  of  a  king's  folly — and  a  reminiscence  of  a  profligate 
period,  which  sovereigns  will  not  now-a-days  dare  to  imitate. 
Time  presses,  for  we  learn  that  Mr.  Bayard  Taylor,  our  Minis- 
ter in  Berlin,  is  anxious  for  our  arrival.  We  are  to  shake  hands 
with  Bismarck,  and  to  talk  perhaps  of  war  with  Moltke. 


^'r^-M, 


w 
g 

s 

OS 
W 

ac 

H 

;z 
o 


{A    ^HSk '  •"■«■' -o  • 


CHAPTER    XV. 


BERLIN. 


[j|  ENERAL  GRANT  and  his  party  arrived  in  Ber- 
lin on  the  26th  of  June.  Mr.  Bayard  Taylor,  our 
Minister,  went  down  the  road  some  sixty  miles  to 
Stendahl  to  meet  the  Ex-President.  The  Gene- 
ral was  in  the  best  of  spirits,  delighted  with  his  journey  through 
Holland,  and  carrying  with  him  not  only  lasting  impressions  of 
the  prosperity  of  the  Dutch  people,  and  the  true  freedom  they 
enjoyed,  but  grateful  for  the  hospitality  he  had  received.  On 
the  evening  of  arrival  at  Berlin  the  General  strolled  along  the 
famous  avenue  Unter  den  Linden,  and  during  the  entire  stay  in 
the  Prussian  capital  a  portion  of  every  day  was  devoted  to  walk- 
ing. I  do  not  think  that  there  was  a  quarter  of  Berlin  which 
he  did  not  explore  with  that  energy  of  the  true  sight-seer 
which  no  amount  of  exertion  can  extinguish. 

305 


;96 


BERLIN. 


The  interest  General  Grant  took  in  Berlin  was  very  great. 
Prussia  and  her  capital  have  asserted  themselves  so  prominently 
in  history  for  the  last  twenty  years  that  they  may  be  regarded 
as  the  leading  country  and  the  political  center  of  Europe. 
Few  people  remember  that  in  the  annals  of  that  older  civiliza- 
tion Prussia  has  arrived  at  her  maturity  in  a  comparatively 
short  period  of  time.  That  position  she  now  enjoys  in  reality 
only  dates  back  from  the  time  of  Frederick  the  Great.  After 
him  the  star  of  Prussia  might  have  been  dimmed  for  a  time 
only  to  arise  in  its  present  glory  under  Frederick  William  and 
Bismarck.  It  is  not  my  purpose  in  this  record  of  travels  to 
write  history,  but  Prussia  in  herself,  in  her  cities  perpetually 
recalls  the  methods  by  which  her  greatness  was  achieved.  If 
there  have  been  great  thrift,  honesty,  steadfastness  displayed 
by  the  Prussians,  it  is  as  a  military  power  that  she  takes  pre- 
eminence. Everything  is  subservient  to  the  soldier.  To  us 
in  the  United  States,  thanks  to  our  position,  this  necessity  for 
o-uns  and  swords  does  not  exist.  Frederick  the  Great  fought 
for  and  gained  his  territory  inch  by  inch.  Geographically 
Prussia  is  situated  between  many  diverse  elements.  She  has 
on  one  side  France,  on  the  other  Russia,  and  south  of  her 
Austria.  It  is  needless  to  philosophize  over  the  nature  of 
things.  We  have  to  take  them  as  they  present  themselves. 
There  are  opposing  interests  in  nations  which  in  time  seem 
absolutely  to  develop  into  instincts.  With  a  great  people 
like  the  Prussians,  the  necessity  of  expansion,  then  of  solidifi- 
cation, became  vital.  It  was  a  fight  for  existence.  Germany 
had  no  unity.  It  was  an  agglomeration  of  states,  with  politi- 
cal aspirations,  with  but  the  feeblest  political  cohesion.  Ger- 
man interests  were  the  same,  but  the  petty  princes  acted 
only  as  impelled  by  whim  or  caprice.  It  was  a  practical  Bis- 
marck who  molded  this  all  together.  To  do  this  physical 
force  may  have  been  necessary,  and  there  may  have  been  some 
loud  crying  on  the  part  of  those  who  were  subjected  to  his 
political  pressure,  but  yield  they  had  to,  and  to-day  something 
of  a  homogeneous  fatherland  is  presented.  The  progress  of 
the  world  tends  toward  the  absorbing  of  smaller  states  by  one 


(INTER  DEN  LINDEN. 


597 


mighty  one.  But  then  in  time  comes  that  period  when,  do 
what  statesmen  may,  the  great  mass  is  broken  up  as  if  by  a 
centrifugal  action,  and  again  from  one  big  country  lesser  coun- 
tries are  born.  Berlin  partakes  somewhat  of  the  more  recent 
German  ideas.  Its  position  cannot  be  praised,  for  it  lies  on 
a  sandy  plain,  and  through  the  city  runs  the  Spree,  a  rather 
insignificant  torpid  stream.  Its  progress  in  importance  has 
been  a  rapid  one,  for  in  1817  Berlin  had  only  180,000  people, 


UNTER    DEN    LINDEN. 


whereas  to-day  it  is  the  fourth  city  in  Europe  with  a  popu- 
lation not  far  from  875,000.  After  the  victory  of  Prussia 
over  France,  Berlin  made  rapid  strides,  and  buildings  went 
up  on  all  sides,  but  financial  matters  did  not  go  on  as  swim- 
mingly as  did  the  military  successes,  and  the  city  is  said  to 
be  suffering;  from  "hard  times."  We  cannot  see  it,  however, 
in  the  streets,  which  are  very  gay  and  cheerful.  Of  course 
the  soldier  element  is  in  great  excess.  There  are  uniforms 
everywhere.  It  can  hardly  be  otherwise  where  every  man  is 
a  soldier.      At  first  it  is  monotonous  to  see  so  many  in  blue 


39S  BERLIN. 

with  red  facings,  but  one  gets  accustomed  to  it  in  time.  It 
means  what  has  been  before  mentioned,  that  Prussia  must  al- 
ways stand  on  guard.  She  is  practical  about  this,  and  rather 
counts  on  people  noticing  the  military  status  than  otherwise. 

The  great  street  of  Berlin  is  the  Unter  den   Linden.     This 
is   the    Broadway,  the   Newsky  Perspective,  the   Boulevard   of 
Berlin.     There  are  long  rows  of  fine  trees    which    shade  the 
street.     At  one  extremity  is  the  Brandenburg   Gate,  a  copy  of 
an  Athenian  monument.      That  Car  of  Victory  perched  on  top 
of  it  has  its  story.     When  Berlin  fell  into  the  hands  of  Napo- 
leon, that  chariot  went  to  Paris,  and  told  of   French  conquests, 
but  Blucher  and  Waterloo  came,  and  the  Car  of  Victory  was 
restored  to  the    Brandenburg   Gate.     The    element  of  rapine 
has  been  eliminated  from  warlike  successes  to-day.      It  shows 
at  least  that  in  the  brutality  of  war,  the  arts  exert  a  certain 
influence.       Prince  Bismarck  might  have  exacted  his  millions 
from  France  in  the  recent  war,  but  he  would  not  have  liked 
to  have  touched  a  single  picture  or  a  statue  in  the  Louvre. 
Near   this  gate  is  the  palace   which   Berlin  gave   to   Blucher, 
and  a  house  also  presented  to  the  old  field-marshal  Wrangel. 
Near  by,   too,    is  the    Hotel  d'Arnim,  a  well-known    Prussian 
family,  who  have  somewhat  suffered  of  late  in  political  conside- 
ration.     That  grandeur,  that   massiveness  which  one  sees  in 
Paris,  in   London,  is  not  to  be  found  in  Berlin.     The  Prussian 
is  not  ostentatious,  is  rather  indifferent  to  display,  and  Berlin 
is  really  as  things  go  in   Europe  quite  a  modern   city,  and  for 
some  reasons  is  quite  pleasant  to  Americans  on  this  account. 
There  are  occasional  drawbacks  in  the  streets,  and  these  are  in 
the  guise  of  very  ugly  gutters,  which  just   at  this  time  of  the 
year  are  more  or  less  offensive.      But  we  in  the  United   States 
cannot  pride  ourselves  on    very  clean    streets ;   then    besides, 
though  the  Spree  runs  through  Berlin,  it  gives  but  little  oppor- 
tunity for  sewerage.     The  plan  of  the  city  is   uniform,  streets 
running  with  but  few  exceptions  in  straight  lines,  which  shows 
the  practical  side  of  the  newer  German  idea.      But  to  return  to 
this  principal  street,  "  Unter  den  Linden."     On  this  main  thor- 
oughfare are  placed  the  majority  of  the  hotels  of  the  foreign 


VISIT  TO  THE  ARSENAL. 


399 


representatives,  and  as  to-day  Berlin  is  the  great  center  of  the 
diplomatic  congress  of  Europe,  the  various  flags  of  well-known 
countries  are  floating  in  the  air.  On  this  same  street  are  situ- 
ated the  Academie,  quite  adjacent  to  it,  the  School  of  Artillery 
and  Engineers,  and  at  its  conclusion  in  the  city,  is  the  Zeug- 
haus.  General  Grant's  military  reputation  had  preceded  him, 
and  of  course  some  of  us  were  expected  to  visit  the  grand  en- 
trepot of  arms  in  Berlin,  which  is   the   Arsenal.      Whether  the 


Berliner  looks  on  this  assemblage  of  arms  with  pride  I  cannot 
say.  It  may  be  regarded  as  rather  a  necessity.  It  was  for  the 
collection  of  arms  here  that  the  battle  of  Malplaquet  made  the 
first  contribution.  Here  in  this  building  are  placed  all  the 
great  military  souvenirs  of  the  country.  Why  be  sentimental 
over  such  bits  of  iron,  steel,  or  bronze  ?  There  are  few  of  them 
which  have  not  been  won  by  deeds  of  heroism,  but  alas  !  at  the 
cost  of  human  suffering.  In  this  Arsenal  the  more  recent 
events  of  the  struggle  with  France  are  seen,  for  the  tattered 
banners   taken  at  Worth  attest  the   Prussian  triumph.      Berlin, 


4-00  BERLIN. 

as  has  been  stated  before,  constantly  recalls  its  military  condi- 
tion, for   there   in   its  midst  are   numerous  schools  devoted  to 
the  higher  instruction  of  the   soldier.      Here  is  a  building  not 
very  imposing  in  appearance  which   is  worthy  of    looking  at, 
and  describing    somewhat   in   detail   its   purpose.       It    is   what 
might  be  called  the  School  of  the  Staff.      It  is  the  great  central 
movement,  which   starting  the  vis  inertia,  propels  at  any  given 
moment  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  armed  men  which  Prus- 
sia holds  in  leash.      It  is  here  that  that   intelligence,  more  pow- 
erful   than    human    strength,   guides    the    march    of    countless 
hordes.     There  is  no  great  display  here— save  that  the  senti- 
nels one  always   sees  at  all  military  posts  in  Prussia  stride  up 
and   clown.      You   would   scarcely   take    the    busy   men   inside, 
though   they,   too,  wear  uniforms,  to  be   much  else  than   mili- 
tary clerks.      It  is  true  that  they  are  clerks,  but  the  books  they 
keep  contain  all  the  military  debts  and  credits  of  the  world. 
Let  there  be  a  change  made  in  any   army  in  Europe,  let  the 
caliber  of  a  rifle   be  increased  or  diminished,  a  bayonet  socket 
altered,  any  new  improvement  in   a   cannon   made,  and  some 
Prussian  officer  knows  all  about  it,  reports  it,  and  clown  it  goes 
in  a  book  kept  in   this   office,  to  be  looked  at  if  necessary  at 
some  future  time.      Here   every  road,  lane,  cowpath  in  Europe 
is  traced  out  on  maps.      Every  house,  hut,  or  cabin  is  described, 
and  the  capability  of  every  city,  town,  or  hamlet  to  feed  troops. 
The  wonderful  knowledge   Prussia  had   of  France  during  the 
late  war  was  entirely  due  to  the  labors  of  this  office.      Of  course 
a  bureau  of  this  kind  seems  strange  according  to  our  American 
ideas,  but  that  it  is  a  necessity  admits  of  no  doubt.      It  is  true 
that  something  of  success  in  war  arises  from  the  inspiration  of 
a  general,  but  the  Prussians   have  done  their  best,  with  Moltke 
at  their  head,  to  bring  military  art  into  the  practical  detaijs  of 
an  exact  science.      I  think  when  speaking  of  Moltke  one  of  the 
greatest  of  generals,  the  Ex- President,  whose  curiosity  is  not 
easily  excited,  may  have  felt  some  disappointment  in  not  meet- 
ing this   Prussian  officer,  who   unfortunately  was   not  in  Berlin 
at  the  period  of  our  visit.      Some  of  us,  more   inquisitive  than 
the  rest,  went  to  the   Moltke  Strasse,  named  in  honor  of  Prus- 


THE    ROYAL    PALACE. 


401 


sia's  foremost  soldier,  and  looked  at  his  apartments.  Save  in 
the  rooms  used  for  parade,  Moltke's  chamber  is  of  the  most 
Spartan-like  simplicity.  Moltke  is  a  Dane,  and  adopted  Prus- 
sia as  his  country  in  1823.  The  great  work  commenced  by 
Stein,  and  Scharnhorst  after  the  battle  of  Jena,  has  been  con- 
tinued by  Moltke.  There  are  some  traits  about  him  which 
are  worth  recalling;.  He  loves  the  country  better  than  the  city, 
and  is  never  so  happy  as  when  in  his  private  domain,  attending 
to  his  farming  in  Silesia. 
His  devotion  to  a  much- 
beloved  wife,  who  died 
in  1868,  belongs  to  the 
more  poetic  side  of  his 
nature. 

The  Royal  Palace  is 
among  the  oldest  build- 
ings of  celebrity  in  Ber- 
lin. Without  being 
grandiose  it  is  quite 
striking  on  account  of 
its  huge  size.  We  no- 
tice the  throne  room 
with  its  regal  chair  of  sil- 
ver, and  the  neighboring 
chamber,  called  the  room 
of  the  Black  Eagle.  Here 
are  held  every  year  the 
meetings  of  this  order. 
In  1 87 1,  as  victors — Ber- 
lin being  far  distant — it  was  at  Versailles  that  this  festival  was 
held.  There  is  a  curious  old  story  about  a  white  figure  which 
haunts  this  palace,  and  that  whenever  a  sovereign  of  Prussia 
sees  this  weird  person  his  days  are  numbered. 

The  museum  of  Berlin  is  among  the  most  celebrated  col- 
lections in  Europe.     The  figures  of  the  Amazon  on  horseback 
fighting  with  the  lion,  so  familiar  to  us  in   America  as  one  of 
Kiss's  masterpieces,  is  found  on  mounting  the  stairs.     In  deco- 
26 


THE   OLD 


\NS  SOtXI. 


,Q2  BERLIN. 

rating  this  palace  of  art   Cornelius  contributed  his  skill.      The 
galleries   of  pictures  are  wonderful    as   to   both   quantity   and 
quality,    and   are   carefully   divided   according    to    the    various 
schools.      In  this  museum  may  be  found,  too,  those  great  works 
of  modern  times,  the  powerful  productions  of  Kaulbach,  which, 
for  grandeur  of  conception,  and  an  encyclopedic  acquaintance 
with  the  customs  and  habits  of  men  of  all  ages,  will  render  this 
painter  forever  noted.      Back  of  the  old  museum,  connected  by 
a  gallery,  is  the  new  museum,  in  which  the  Egyptian  collection 
is  displayed.      Prussia  has   always  held   a  leading  position   in 
Egyptology,  and  it  was   Lipsius  who  did  most  to  unravel  the 
mysteries  of  the  old  Nile  country.     We  are  struck  as  much 
with  some   of  the   modern  curiosities  as  with  those  of  tens  of 
thousands  of  years  ago.      The  mummy  of  the  time  of    Ptolemy 
interests  us   less  than  a  view  of  the   golden  decorations  and 
diamond-studded  orders  which   once  belonged  to  Napoleon  I. 
From  the  sublime  we  come  to  the  ridiculous,  that  is,  his  hat, 
which    was  found    in  his  carriage    after  Waterloo.       Here    is 
something,  too,  which  is  worth  a  passing  glance,  the    model   of 
a  mill  made  by  Peter  the  Great  when  he  worked   as  a   ship 
carpenter    in    Holland.       Strange   how  this  apprenticeship  of 
Peter  has  been  lauded  as  if  it  were  one    of    the  most  extra- 
ordinary   of    human   performances !       But    here    is    something 
which   really   is  worth   looking  at,   for  it  recalls    Prussia   and 
the  greatest  of  her  kings.      Here  is  a  semblance  of  Old  Fritz 
bedecked  in  the    uniform    he  wore   to   the   day  of   his  death. 
I   believe    the    story  told    of    Frederick  to  be  perfectly    true. 
Once   a    visitor    in    Frederick's    lifetime   entreated  a  valet  to 
show  them  his  majesty's  fine  clothes.      "Impossible,"  said  the 
lackey,  "  for  he  wears   them  all  on  his  back."     The   old  king 
dressed  in  the   most   shabby  way  in  order  to   express  his  con- 
tempt of  outer  show,  and  at  the  same  time  had  rather  a  mania 
for  building  palaces  and  laying  out  fine  gardens  in  order  to 
show   the   detractors    of   his   country   and   her  enemies    "  that 
Prussia   had   still    money   enough   left   in   case   she   wanted    to 
spend  it." 

The  University  of  Berlin  is  the  most  noted  of   European 


GARDENS   OF  BERLIN. 


403 


schools,  and  the  names  of  its  professors  are  among  the  famous 
teachers  of  the  world.  In  addition  to  art  students  from  the 
United  States  we  found  many  young  Americans  who  lived  in 
Berlin  in  order  to  attend  the  lectures.  From  these  we  received 
much  instruction  and  information  in  regard  to  Berliner  habits 
and  customs.  Student  life  in  the  capital  of  Prussia  may  not 
have  the  joyous  freedom  of  the  small  university  towns,  but 
yet,  from  the  descriptions  given  us,  it  must  have  its  charms.      If 


Berlin  is  a  place  where  the  student  may  trim  his  lamp  and  work 
to  his  heart's  content,  there  are  to  be  found  no  end  of  amuse- 
ments. In  a  certain  way  the  gardens,  which  are  to  be  found  in 
Berlin,  do  not  differ  so  much  from  those  in  Paris.  A  mature 
German  may  take  his  pleasure  in  a  staid  way,  but  the  old  maxim 
holds  good  here  that  "  all  the  world  is  one  country."  There 
are  many  places  where  beer  can  be  had  in  Berlin,  and  the  bier- 
stuben  collect  drinkers  of  various  sorts  and  grades.  Some  of 
our  American  friends  who  have  been  prosecuting  their  studies 
for  a  number  of  years  in   the   schools  inform  us  that    things 


404  BERLIN. 

have  changed  very  much  since  the  war  with  France — that 
the  cost  of  living  has  increased,  and  that  the  prosperity  of 
Berlin  seems  to  have  received  a  check,  and  there  has  even 
been  a  change  in  the  public  character.  "  A  tremendous  victory 
gained  by  any  people  always  makes  a  difference  in  their  char- 
acteristics. I  for  one  fully  believe  that  the  military  power  of 
Prussia  is  irresistible,  and  that  she  is  to-day  mistress  of  Europe. 
If  I,  as  a  stranger,  am  forced  to  acknowledge  this,  the  Prus- 
sians themselves  are  perfectly  conscious  of  their  strength.  I  do 
not  think  this  has  induced  any  feeling  of  arrogance  among 
the  more  intelligent,  but  certain  classes  of  the  community  are 
inclined  to  assert  it.  It  don't  show  itself  in  words,  but  rather 
in  actions  of  which  they  are  unconscious.  Now  we,  thank 
goodness  !  as  Americans  are  well  received  everywhere,  and  no 
parallelisms  can  be  drawn  between  our  country  and  Prussia, 
but  toward  Austrians,  Russians,  Hollanders,  and  Frenchmen 
there  is  little  hesitation  shown  in  making  distinctions.  Now 
Prussia  is  a  living  paradox.  She  tries  to  combine  the  high- 
est intellectual  culture  with  the  greatest  physical  force.  She 
pushes  forward  on  the  chess-board  of  Europe,  side  by  side, 
her  philosopher  and  her  soldier.  Which  will  win  the  game 
no  one  can  say,  but  one  will  be  sure  to  absorb  the  other.  It 
becomes  very  hard  to  make  a  Prussian  an  enthusiast  save  in 
regard  to  his  country.  The  heart  of  the  nation  sprang  to  a 
fever  heat  when  France  attacked  her.  This  pulsation  of  the 
Prussian  heart  has  not  yet  perhaps  ceased  throbbing.  It  is 
books  and  guns  for  many  years  to  come  with  Prussia.  The 
wonderful  thing  about  it  is  how  quickly  she  can  drop  study  and 
take  to  drilling.  It  is  perfectly  true,  though,  that  France  was 
beaten  by  the  schoolmasters.  Returning  to  the  method  of  in- 
struction in  the  schools  of  the  higher  grades,  physical  and  men- 
tal culture  go  hand  in  hand.  As  to  the  professors  in  the  uni- 
versity, their  names,  as  you  know,  have  no  superiors.  Their 
method  of  instruction  is  of  the  most  exact  character.  There  is 
nothing  florid  about  it.  Nothing  escapes  them.  I  do  not 
think  the  perceptive  faculty  is  much  cared  for  in  the  student  by 
the  great  professors.      All  they  want  is  to  ground  a  man  per- 


A  REVIEW. 


405 


fectly,  to  set  him  solidly  on  his  subject.  The  imaginative,  the 
inventive  quality  they  suppose  will  come  of  its  own  accord. 
There  is  a  dignity,  a  massiveness  of  intellect  in  these  professors 
which  rather  awes  one.  They  do  not  court  familiarity.  You 
are  not  exactly  afraid  of  them,  but  their  impressiveness  rather 
takes  your  breath  away."  We  held  many  an  interesting  conver- 
sation of  this  kind  with  American  students,  and  have  earned 
some  knowledge  of  the  method  of  Prussian  instruction,  and  the 
less-known  characteristics  of  the  people. 

Berlin  delighted  us  exceedingly  with  the  air  of  bustle  and 
constant  movement  seen  in 
the  streets.  Perhaps,  now 
that  public  anxiety  in  regard 
to  the  condition  of  the  king  is 
allayed,  the  city  may  owe  its 
present  amount  of  particular 
excitement  to  the  meeting  of 
the  Congress.  We  hear  a  great 
deal  about  politics,  and  grave  J 
questions  of  European  settle- 
ments are  on  every  lip.  It 
seems  to  be  a  subject  of  pride 
to  Prussians  that  it  is  in  Ber- 
lin that  the  end  of  the  Euro- 
pean game  of  diplomacy  is 
to  be  played.  Of  course  in- 
vitations of  every  kind  are  sent  to  the  General,  and  it  is  well 
that  he  had  found  some  repose  in  Holland.  I  understand  a 
grand  review  is  on  the  tapis  which  General  Grant  is  to  witness. 
I  don't  think  he  possibly  can  escape  this  time,  much  as  he  is 
disinclined  to  witness  military  pageants.  If  one  has  the  least 
inclination  this  way,  any  town  in  Prussia  affords  the  amplest 
opportunities.  We  have  the  satisfaction  of  meeting  quite  a 
number  of  Prussian  officers  who  have  served  in  the  United 
States  during  the  civil  war,  many  of  them  having  been  in  action 
under  the  eyes  of  General  Grant.  They  all  express  the  highest 
admiration  for  his  military  capacity  and  sound  judgment,  and 


IN    THE   PARK. 


406 


BERLIN. 


are  anxious  to  pay  their  respects  to  their  old  chief.  We  notice 
the  direct  affiliations  Germany  has  with  the  United  States,  and 
when  the  character  of  our  party  is  understood,  we  are  asked  an 
infinite  number  of  questions  by  those  who  have  friends  and 
relatives  in  the  States.  We  find  that  Prussians  of  all  classes 
are  very  fairly  acquainted  with  the  geography  of  our  country, 
and  the  many  ludicrous  mistakes  which  Frenchmen  and  Italians 
make  are  eluded.  You  never  can  manage  to  make  a  French- 
man of  the  middle  class  quite  appreciate  the  distinction  between 
North  and  South  America.  New  York  and  Rio  Janeiro  to 
him  are  contiguous  and  adjacent  towns. 

We  find  time  to  visit  Potsdam,  and  to  see  the  great  palaces 
there,  the  Babelsburg,  the  Royal,  New  and  Marble  Palaces, 
and  the  well-known  Sans  Souci.  Potsdam  is  half  a  palatial 
residence  and  half  a  barracks.  If  anything,  soldiers  swarmed 
here  more  than  in  Berlin.  In  the  garrison  church  are  laid  the 
mortal  remains  of  the  greatest  of  all  the  kings  of  Prussia. 
With  a  strange  whim,  Frederick  it  is  said  wanted  to  find  sepul- 
cher  in  his  garden  alongside  of  his  good  horse  and  his  trusty 
friends  the  dogs,  but  such  a  thing  could  not  be,  and  the  king 
sleeps  his  long  rest  in  the  garrison  church.  Sans  Souci  is  the 
pride  of  Potsdam,  for  here,  when  war  was  over,  Fritz  loved  to 
dwell,  and  do  queer  things,  and  write  verses,  and  dabble  with 
French  philosophy,  and  laugh  at  Voltaire,  in  a  quiet  and  con- 
cealed kind  of  way,  which  probably  the  king  enjoyed  more  than 
anything  else.  The  mill  of  Sans  Souci  is  world-famous,  and  its 
story  a  household  tale.  It  stands  still  as  a  monument  of  the 
miller's  folly,  almost  as  it  did  in  the  time  of  Frederick  the 
Great.  There  is  a  story,  which  if  at  least  wanting  in  authen- 
ticity, only  rounds  the  narrative,  and  that  is,  that  in  late  years, 
the  present  mill  owner,  being  reduced  in  circumstances,  offered 
it  to  King  William,  at  his  own  figures,  agreeing  to  allow  its 
removal.  It  is  reported  that  the  king  bought  it,  but  would  not 
allow  the  mill  to  be  removed,  as  it  belonged  to  the  history  of 
the  country.  Prussians  seem  to  cherish  with  particular  reve- 
rence the  memory  of  Frederick  the  Great,  and  the  longer  the 
period  between  his   death   and   the   present  time,  the  greater 


SANS  SOU  CI. 


407 


seems  to  be  the  respect  paid  him.  Quite  near  Potsdam  is  the 
New  Palace,  also  a  pet  residence  of  Frederick's,  where  certain 
rooms  remain  exactly  in  the  same  condition  as  when  the  old 
king  left  them.  That  little  bit  of  queerness  which  Frederick 
had,  may  be  recalled  in  looking  at  the  Tabakscollegium,  in- 
stituted by  his  father,  which  is  on  the  grounds.  Here  the  old 
kino-  used  to  practice  his  horse  jokes,  and  fuddle  himself  and 
his  comrades  with  wine  and  tobacco.  I  have  so  far  given  our 
v,,-  impressions  of  Berlin  as  seen  by  the 
ordinary  tourist,  but  as  our  party 
had  for  its  head  and  chief  a  truly 
representative  citizen  of  our  great 
country,  it    fell   to    our  share  to   be 


GARDEN   OF  SANS  SOUCI. 


thrown  in  connection  with  some  of  the  most  distinguished  men 
in  Europe  to-day.  It  was  a  fitting  tribute  to  the  United 
States,  that  the  General  should  receive  courtesies  from  the 
Chancellor  of  the  United  German  people.      I  shall,  therefore, 


4o8 


BERLIN. 


devote  the  greater  part  of  the  remainder  of  this  chapter  to  the 
General's  visit  to  Prince  Bismarck,  and  to  the  singularly  cordial 
reception  the  Ex-President  met  at  the  hands  of  the  representa- 
tives of  the  royal  family  in  Berlin. 

All  distinguished  diplomats  seem  to  be  gouty,  and  as  Prince 
Gortschakoff  was  afflicted  with  this  aristocratic  disease,  at 
the  request  of  the  Russian  Plenipotentiary,  General  Grant 
called  on  the  prince.  It  was  Mr.  Bayard  Taylor  who  arranged 
the  visit.  Prince  Gortschakoff  was  highly  pleased  with  the 
compliment  paid  to  his  country.  Of  all  the  members  of  the 
great  European  Congress,  now  holding  their  session  in  Berlin, 
most  of  the  foreign  representatives,  Lord  Beaconsfield,  Lord 
Salisbury,  M.  Waddington,  and  Count  Corti  were  known  to 
the  General.  Mehemet  Ali  the  General  had  met  in  Turkey. 
Visits  of  ceremony  had  to  be  paid  to  all  these  dignitaries. 
Among  the  very  first  of  the  great  ones  of  this  earth  who  left 
his  card  for  the  Ex-President  was  Prince  Bismarck.  Unfortu- 
nately General  Grant  was  absent,  and  the  visit  on  the  part  of 
Bismarck  was  repeated.  As  the  General  was  most  anxious  to 
make  the  acquaintance  of  the  great  German,  for  whose  charac- 
ter and  services  he  had  so  high  an  admiration,  the  calls  were 
returned  at  once,  and  a  message  was  sent  his  highness,  saying 
that  the  General  would  call  at  any  time  which  would  suit  his 
convenience.  Out  of  this  came  a  meeting  which  most  fortu- 
nately I  have  in  my  power  to  describe,  a  meeting  of  two  distin- 
guished men,  which  must  be  so  interesting  to  both  Germans 
and  Americans,  that  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  describe  it  in  its 
minutest  details. 

Four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  was  named,  and  as  General 
Grant's  hotel  was  but  a  few  minutes'  walk  from  the  Bismarck 
Palace,  a  few  minutes  before  four  the  General  walked  through 
the  Frederick  Place.  This  Place  is  a  small  square,  adorned 
with  plants  and  flowers,  and  with  superb  trees  growing  in  it, 
all  laid  out  in  memory  of  the  Great  Frederick.  Statues  of  the 
leading  Prussian  generals  decorate  the  walks.  As  most  things 
in  Germany  tend  to  intensify  the  military  spirit,  and  to  keep  up 
the  remembrance  of  her  heroes,  the  bronze   statues   record  the 


VISIT  TO  PRINCE  BISMARCK. 


409 


names  and  deeds  of  Zeithen,  Seidlitz,  Winterfeldt,  Keith, 
Schwerin,  and  the  Prince  of  Dessau.  Passine  through  the 
park,  on  your  right  stretches  an  edifice,  or  rather  a  whole  range 
of  buildings,  forming  three  sides  of  a  square.  An  iron  railing 
separates  it  from  the  street.  There  are  grim  sentinels  on 
guard  before  the  entrances  of  the  building.  From  the  roof 
the  flag  of  Germany  floats  languidly.  It  is  a  bright  sunshiny 
afternoon,  and  quite  warm.  The  birds  are  singing  in  the  park. 
The  buildings  are  not  very  imposing,  rather  low  and  straggling, 
but  you  notice  that  one  particular  range  of  windows  is  shaded 
with  lace  curtains.  You  observe  that  the  promenaders,  the 
loungers,  as  they  come  past  these  windows,  pause  for  a  moment, 
and  gaze  at  them 
curiously.  Now  this 
building  happens  to 
be,  at  this  present 
moment,  one  of  the 
most  interesting 
places  in  the  political 
world,  for  in  that  par- 
ticular room,  whose 
windows  are  shaded 


I'ALACE  OF   FKEDEK1CK    WILLIAM. 


with  their  lace  veils, 
the  Berlin  Congress  is  holding  its  sitting,  and  as  for  the  build- 
ing itself,  it  is  the  home,  the  residence  of  that  famous  man, 
Prince  Bismarck. 

The  General  saunters  in  a  kind  of  nonchalant  way  into  the 
court-yard.  The  sentinels  eye  him  for  just  an  instant,  perhaps 
curiously,  and  then  quickly  present  arms.  Somehow  or  other 
these  grim  soldiers  recognize  at  once,  as  the  salute  is  returned, 
that  it  comes  from  a  man  who  is  himself  a  soldier.  His  visit 
had  been  expected  it  was  true,  but  it  was  supposed  that  an 
Ex-President  of  the  United  States  would  have  come  thun- 
dering in  a  coach  and  six  accompanied  by  outriders,  and  not 
quietly  on  foot.  The  General  throws  away  a  half-smoked 
cigar,  then  brings  up  his  hand  to  his  hat,  acknowledging  the 
military  courtesy,  and  advances   in    the   most  quiet  way  to  the 


Aio  BERLIN. 

door.  But  ceremony  on  the  part  of  the  Germans  cannot 
allow  a  modest,  unassuming  entrance,  for  before  he  has  time 
to  ring,  two  liveried  servants  throw  wide  open  the  door,  and 
the  Ex-President  passes  into  a  spacious  marble  hall.  Of  all 
the  princes  of  the  earth  now  living,  even  of  the  rulers  them- 
selves, this  Prince  of  Bismarck-Schinhausen  is  the  most  re- 
nowned. It  is  the  prince  who  comes  through  the  opening 
portals  and  with  both  hands  extended  welcomes  General  Grant. 
You  cannot  help  but  note  that  time  has  borne  with  a  heavy 
hand  on  Bismarck  within  the  past  few  years.  The  mustache 
and  hair  which  but  a  short  time  ago  were  iron  gray  are  now 
almost  white  ;  there  is  even  some  weariness  in  the  gait,  a  tired 
look  about  the  face.  But  there  is  not  a  line  on  that  face  which 
does  not  belong  to  our  association  with  Bismarck,  for  if  ever 
true  manhood,  undaunted  courage,  and  overpowering  intellect 
were  written  on  a  man's  features,  they  are  all  stamped  on  the 
massive  head  of  the  German  chancellor.  There  is  that  lofty 
assertion  of  station  which  belongs  only  to  men  cast  in  this 
mold,  those  bold  outlines  which  tell  of  great  brains,  which 
make  and  unmake  empires,  and  with  all  that  the  frank,  in- 
trepid, penetrating  eye  with  that  firmly  -  knit  mouth  which 
shows  the  courage,  the  tenacity  of  the  Saxon  race.  Prince 
Bismarck  wears  an  officer's  uniform,  and  as  he  takes  the  Gene- 
ral's hand,  he  says,  "  Glad  to  welcome  General  Grant  to 
Germany." 

The  General's  reply  is  "  that  there  is  no  incident  in  his 
German  tour  more  interesting  to  him  than  this  opportunity  of 
meeting  the  prince."  Prince  Bismarck  then  expresses  surprise 
at  finding  the  General  so  young  a  man  ;  but  when  a  comparison 
of  ages  is  made,  Prince  Bismarck  finds  that  the  Ex-President 
is  only  eleven  years  his  junior. 

"That,"  says  the  prince,  "shows  the  value  of  a  military 
life,  for  here  you  have  the  frame  of  a  young  man,  while  I  feel 
like  an  old  one." 

The  General  smiled,  observing  that  he  was  at  that  period  of 
life  when  he  could  have  no  higher  compliment  paid  him  than 
that  of  being  called  a  young  man.      By  the  time  this  pleasant 


PRINCE  BISMARCK. 


411 


chatting  had  been  going  on,  the  prince  had  offered  the  General 

a  seat.      All   this  took  place  in  a  library  or  study.      There  was 

an  open  window  which  looked   out  on  the  beautiful   park  on 

which  the  June  sun  was    shining.     This  was  the  private  park 

of  the  Radziwill  Palace,  which  is  now  Bismarck's  Berlin  home. 

The  library  was  a  large, 

spacious 

walls    of 

and  the  furniture  plain 

and  simple.     In  one  cor- 


r  o  o  m,     the 
gray    marble, 


ner  stood  a  larofe,  high 
writing 


desk,  where 
the  chancellor  works, 
and  on  the  waxed 
floor  a  few  Turkish 
rugs  were  thrown.  The 
prince  speaks  English 
with  precision,  though 
slowly  from  want  of 
practice,  and  when  he 
wants  a  word  seeks 
refuge  in  French.  He 
shows,  however,  that  he 
has  a  fair  command  of 
our  vernacular. 

One  of  the  prince's  first  questions  was  about  General  Sheri- 
dan. 

'The  general  and   I,"  said  the  prince,  "were   fellow   cam- 
paigners in  France,  and  we  became  great  friends." 

General  Grant  said  that  he  had  had  letters  from  Sheridan 
recently  and  he  was  quite  well. 

"  Sheridan,"  said  the  prince,  "  seemed  to  be  a  man  of  great 
ability." 

"  Yes,"  answered  the  General,  "I  regard  Sheridan  as  not 
only  one  of  the  great  soldiers  of  our  war,  but  one  of  the  great 
soldiers  of  the  world — as  a  man  who  is  fit  for  the  highest  com- 
mands.     No  better  rreneral  ever  lived  than  Sheridan." 


MEETING    WITH    C1SMARCK. 


4 !  o  BERLIN. 

"  I  observed,"  said  the  prince,  "  that  he  had  a  wonderfully 
quick  eye.  On  one  occasion,  I  remember,  the  Emperor  and 
his  staff  took  up  a  position  to  observe  a  battle.  The  Emperor 
himself  was  never  near  enough  to  the  front,  was  always  impa- 
tient to  be  as  near  the  fighting  as  possible.  '  Well,'  said 
Sheridan  to  me,  as  we  rode  along,  '  we  shall  never  stay  here, 
the  enemy  will  in  a  short  time  make  this  so  untenable  that  we 
shall  all  be  leaving  in  a  hurry.  Then  while  the  men  are  ad- 
vancing they  will  see  us  retreating'  Sure  enough,  in  an  hour 
or  so  the  cannon  shot  began  to  plunge  this  way  and  that  way, 
and  we  saw  we  must  leave.  It  was  difficult  to  move  the  Em- 
peror, however  ;  but  we  all  had  to  go,  and,"  said  the  prince, 
with  a  hearty  laugh,  "we  went  rapidly.  Sheridan  had  seen  it 
from  the  beginning.      I  wish  I  had  so  quick  an  eye." 

The  prince  then  asked  about  Sheridan's  command — his  ex- 
act rank,  his  age,  how  long  he  held  the  command,  and  remarked 
that  he  was  about  the  same  age  as  the  Crown  Prince. 

The  General  made  a  reference  to  the  deliberations  of  the 
Congress,  and  hoped  that  there  would  be  a  peaceful  result. 

"That  is  my  hope  and  belief,"  said  the  prince.  "That 
is  all  our  interest  in  the  matter.  We  have  no  business  with 
the  Congress  whatever,  and  are  attending  to  the  business  of 
others  by  calling  a  congress.  But  Germany  wants  peace,  and 
Europe  wants  peace,  and  all  our  labors  are  to  that  end.  In 
the  settlement  of  the  questions  arising  out  of  the  San  Stefano 
Treaty  Germany  has  no  interest  of  a  selfish  character.  I  sup- 
pose," said  the  prince,  "  the  whole  situation  may  be  summed 
up  in  this  phrase,  in  making  the  treaty  Russia  ate  more  than 
she  could  digest,  and  the  main  business  of  the  Congress  is  to 
relieve  her.  The  war  has  been  severe  upon  Russia,  and  of 
course  she  wants  peace." 

The  General  asked  how  long  the  Congress  would  proba- 
bly sit,  and  the  prince  answered  that  he  thought  seven  or 
eight  more  sittings  would  close  the  business.  "  I  wish  it 
were  over,"  he  said,  "for  Berlin  is  warm  and  I  want  to  leave 
it." 

The  prince  said  that  another  reason  why  he  was  sorry  the 


CONVERSATION   WITH  BISMARCK.  .j. 

Congress  was  in  session  was  that  he  could  not  take  General 
Grant  around  and  show  him  Berlin.  He  said  also  that  the 
Emperor  himself  was  disappointed  in  not  being  able  to  see  the 
General. 

"His  majesty,"  said  the  prince,  "has  been  expecting  you, 
and  evinces  the  greatest  interest  in  your  achievements,  in  the 
distinguished  part  you  have  played  in  the  history  of  your 
country,  and  in  your  visit  to  Germany.  He  commands  me  to 
say  that  nothing  but  his  doctor's  orders  that  he  shall  see  no 
one,  prevents  his  seeing  you." 

The  General  said,  "  I  am  sorry  that  1  cannot  have  that 
honor,  but  I  am  far  more  sorry  for  the  cause,  and  hope  the 
Emperor  is  recovering." 

"All  the  indications  are  of  the  best,"  answered  the  prince, 
"for  the  Emperor  has  a  fine  constitution  and  great  courage  and 
endurance,  but  you  know  he  is  a  very  old  man." 

"That,"  said  the  General,  "adds  to  the  horror  one  feels  for 
the  crime." 

"It  is  so  strange,  so  strange  and  so  sad,"  answered  the 
prince,  with  marked  feeling.  "  Here  is  an  old  man — one  of 
the  kindest  old  gentlemen  in  the  world — and  yet  they  must  try 
and  shoot  him !  There  never  was  a  more  simple,  more  genu- 
ine, more — what  shall  I  say — more  humane  character  than  the 
Emperor's.  He  is  totally  unlike  men  born  in  his  station,  or 
many  of  them  at  least.  You  know  that  men  who  come  into 
the  world  in  his  rank,  born  princes,  are  apt  to  think  themselves 
of  another  race  and  another  world.  They  are  apt  to  take  small 
account  of  the  wishes  and  feelings  of  others.  All  their  educa- 
tion tends  to  deaden  the  human  side.  But  this  Emperor  is  so 
much  of  a  man  in  all  things  !  He  never  did  any  one  a  wrong 
in  his  life.  He  never  wounded  any  one's  feelings  ;  never  im- 
posed a  hardship  !  He  is  the  most  genial  and  winning  of  men 
— thinking  always,  anxious  always  for  the  comfort  and  welfare 
of  his  people — of  those  around  him.  You  cannot  conceive  a 
finer  type  of  the  noble,  courteous,  charitable  old  gentleman, 
with  every  high  quality  of  a  prince,  as  well  as  every  virtue  of  a 
man.      I    should  have  supposed  that  the    Emperor  could  have 


414  BERLIN. 

walked  alone   all  over  the   Empire  without  harm,  and  yet  they 
must  try  and  shoot  him." 

The  General  said  that  it  was  a  horrible  thing,  and  referred 
to  Lincoln— a  man  of  the  kindest  and  gentlest  nature— killed 
by  an  assassin. 

"  In  some  respects,"  said  the  prince,  continuing  as  if  in  half 
a  reverie,  and  as  if  speaking  of  a  subject  upon  which  he  had 
been  thinking  a  great  deal — "  In  some  respects  the  Emperor 
resembles  his  ancestor,  Frederick  William,  the  father  of  Frede- 
rick the  Great.  The  difference  between  the  two  is  that  the 
old  king  would  be  severe  and  harsh  at  times  to  those  around 
him,  while  the  Emperor  is  never  harsh  to  any  one.  But  the 
old  king  had  so  much  simplicity  of  character,  lived  an  austere, 
home-loving,  domestic  life  ;  had  all  the  republican  qualities.  So 
with  this  king;  he  is  so  republican  in  all  things  that  even  the 
most  extreme  republican  if  he  did  his  character  justice  would 
admire  him." 

The  General  answered  that  the  influence  which  aimed  at 
the  Emperor's  life  was  an  influence  that  would  destroy  all 
government,  all  order,  all  society,  republics  and  empires. 

"In  America,"  said  General  Grant,  "  some  of  our  people 
are,  as  I  see  from  the  papers,  anxious  about  it.  There  is  only 
one  way  to  deal  with  it,  and  that  is  by  the  severest  methods. 
I  don't  see  why  a  man  who  commits  a  crime  like  this,  a  crime 
that  not  only  aims  at  an  old  man's  life,  a  ruler's  life,  but 
shocks  the  world,  should  not  meet  with  the  severest  punish- 
ment. In  fact,"  continued  the  General,  "although  at  home 
there  is  a  strong  sentiment  against  the  death  penalty,  and  it  is 
a  sentiment  which  one  naturally  respects,  I  am  not  sure  but  it 
should  be  made  more  severe  rather  than  less  severe.  Some- 
thing is  due  to  the  offended  as  well  as  the  offender,  especially 
where  the  offended  is  slain." 

'  That,"  said  the  prince,  "  is  entirely  my  view.  My  convic- 
tions are  so  strong  that  I  resigned  the  government  of  Alsace 
because  I  was  required  to  commute  sentences  of  capital  nature. 
I  could  not  do  it  in  justice  to  my  conscience.  You  see,  this 
kind  old  gentleman,   that  Emperor    whom  these  very  people 


CONVERSATION    WITH  BISMARCK. 


415 


y 


have  tried  to  kill,  is  so  gentle  that  he  will  never  confirm  a  death 
sentence.  Can  you  think  of  anything  so  strange  that  a  sove- 
reign whose  tenderness  of  heart  has  practically  abolished  the 
death  punishment  should  be  the  victim  of  assassination,  or  at- 
tempted assassination  ?  That  is  the  fact.  Well,  I  have  never 
agreed  with  the  Emperor  on  this  point,  and  in  Alsace,  when  I 
found  that  as  chancellor  I  had  to  approve  all  commutations  of 
the  death  sentence,  I  resigned.  In  Prussia  that  is  the  work  of 
the  Minister  of  Justice  ;  in  Alsace  it  devolved  upon  me.     I  felt, 


tn^'-'-k  ..^,/%k  tflBFseirs-/'-   «    ""••  4?- lv4iN * 


<m^W^m 


THE    ROYAL   Ol'ERA    HOUSE, 


as  the  French  say,  that  something  was  due  to  justice,  and  if 
crimes  like  these  are  rampant  they  must  be  severely  punished." 

"  All  you  can  do  with  such  people,"  said  the  General  quietly, 
"  is  to  kill  them." 

"  Precisely  so,"  answered  the  prince. 

Prince  Bismarck  said  the  Emperor  was  especially  sorry  that 
he  could  not  in  person  show  General  Grant  a  review,  and  that 
the  Crown  Prince  would  give  him  one.  "  But,"  said  the  prince, 
"  the  old  gentleman  is  so  much  of  a  soldier  and  so  fond  of  his 
army  that  nothing  would  give  him  more  pleasure  than  to  dis- 
play it  to  so  great  a  soldier  as  yourself." 


41 6  BERLIN. 

The  General  said  that  he  had  accepted  the  Crown  Prince's. 
invitation  to  a  review  for  next  morning,  but  with  a  smile  con- 
tinued :  "  The  truth  is  I  am  more  of  a  farmer  than  a  soldier. 
I  take  little  or  no  interest  in  military  affairs,  and,  although  I 
entered  the  army  thirty-five  years  ago  and  have  been  in  two 
wars,  in  Mexico  as  a  young  lieutenant,  and  later,  I  never  went 
into  the  army  without  regret  and  never  retired  without  plea- 
sure. 

'  You  are  so  happily  placed,"  replied  the  prince,  "  in  America 
that  you  need  fear  no  wars.  What  always  seemed  so  sad  to  me 
about  your  last  great  war  was  that  you  were  fighting  your  own 
people.     That  is  always  so  terrible  in  wars,  so  very  hard." 

"  But  it  had  to  be  done,"  said  the  General. 

'  Yes,"  said  the  prince,  "  you  had  to  save  the  Union  just  as 
we  had  to  save  Germany." 

"Not  only  save  the  Union,  but  destroy  slavery,"  answered 
the  General. 

"  I  suppose,  however,  the  Union  was  the  real  sentiment, 
the  dominant  sentiment,"  said  the  prince. 

"In  the  beginning,  yes,"  said  the  General  ;  "but  as  soon  as 
slavery  fired  upon  the  flag  it  was  felt,  we  all  felt,  even  those 
who  did  not  object  to  slaves,  that  slavery  must  be  destroyed. 
We  felt  that  it  was  a  stain  to  the  Union  that  men  should  be 
bought  and  sold  like  cattle." 

"  I  had  an  old  and  good  friend,  an  American,  in  Motley,"  said 
the  prince,  "  who  used  to  write  me  now  and  then.  Well,  when 
your  war  broke  out  he  wrote  me.  He  said,  '  I  will  make  a 
prophecy,  and  please  take  this  letter  and  put  it  in  a  tree  or  a 
box  for  ten  years,  then  open  it  and  see  if  I  am  not  a  prophet. 
I  prophesy  that  when  this  war  ends  the  Union  will  be  estab- 
lished and  we  shall  not  lose  a  village  or  a  hamlet.'  This  was 
Motley's  prophecy,"  said  the  prince,  with  a  smile,  "  and  it  was 
true. 

"Yes,"  said  the  General,  "  it  was  true." 

"  I  suppose  if  you  had  had  a  large  army  at  the  beginning  of 
the  war  it  would  have  ended  in  a  much  shorter  time." 

"We  might  have  had  no  war  at  all,"  said  the  General  ;  "but 


CONVERSATION    WITH  BISMARCK. 


417 


we  cannot  tell.  Our  war  had  many  strange  features — there 
were  many  things  which  seemed  odd  enough  at  the  time,  but 
which  now  seem  Providential.  If  we  had  had  a  large  regular 
army,  as  it  was  then  constituted,  it  might  have  gone  with  the 
South.  In  fact,  the  Southern  feeling  in  the  army  among  high 
officers  was  so  strong  that  when  the  war  broke  out  the  army 
dissolved.  We  had  no  army — then  we  had  to  organize  one.  A 
great  commander  like  Sherman  or  Sheridan  even  then   might 


THE    GENDENARMENMARKET. 


have  organized  an  army  and  put  down  the  rebellion  in  six 
months  or  a  year,  or,  at  the  farthest,  two  years.  But  that 
would  have  saved  slavery,  perhaps,  and  slavery  meant  the  germs 
of  new  rebellion.  There  had  to  be  an  end  of  slavery.  Then 
we  were  fighting  an  enemy  with  whom  we  could  not  make  a 
peace.  We  had  to  destroy  him.  No  convention,  no  treaty 
was  possible — only  destruction." 

"  It  was  a  long  war,"  said  the  prince,  "  and  a  great  work  well 
done — and  I  suppose  it  means  a  long  peace." 

"  I  believe  so,"  said  the  General. 
27 


4 1 8  BERLIN. 

The  prince  asked  the  General  when  he  might  have  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  Mrs.  Grant.  The  General  answered  that 
she  would  receive  him  at  any  convenient  hour. 

"Then,"  said  the  prince,  "I  will  come  to-morrow  before 
the  Congress  meets." 

Both  gentlemen  arose,  and  the  General  renewed  the  expres- 
sion of  his  pleasure  at  having  seen  a  man  who  was  so  well 
known  and  so  highly  esteemed  in  America. 

"General,"  answered  the  prince,  "the  pleasure  and  the 
honor  are  mine.  Germany  and  America  have  always  been  in 
such  friendly  relationship  that  nothing  delights  us  more  than  to 
meet  Americans,  and  especially  an  American  who  has  done  so 
much  for  his  country,  and  whose  name  is  so  much  honored  in 
Germany  as  your  own." 

The  prince  and  the  General  walked  side  by  side  to  the  door, 
and  after  shaking  hands  the  General  passed  into  the  square. 
The  guard  presented  arms,  the  General  lit  a  fresh  cigar,  and 
slowly  strolled  home. 

"  I  am  glad  I  have  seen  Bismarck,"  the  General  remarked. 
"  He  is  a  man  whose  manner  and  bearing  fully  justify  the 
opinions  one  forms  of  him.  What  he  says  about  the  Emperor 
was  beautifully  said,  and  should  be  known  to  all  the  Germans 
and  those  who  esteem  Germany." 

Notable  among  incidents  of  the  Berlin  stay  was  a  quiet  in- 
formal reception  given  to  the  General  by  Mr.  Bayard  Taylor, 
our  American  Minister.  Mr.  Taylor  was  not  aware  of  the 
General's  coming  until  a  day  or  two  before  his  arrival,  and  had 
been  quite  ill.  Then  he  had  had  no  personal  acquaintance 
with  the  General,  and  if  his  home  political  sympathies  ran  in 
one  direction  more  than  in  another  it  was  not  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  General.  But  I  know  of  no  two  men  more  likely 
under  favorable  circumstances  to  become  well  acquainted  than 
Bayard  Taylor  and  General  Grant.  I  am  sure  I  violate  no  con- 
fidence when  I  say  that  the  General  will  leave  Berlin  with  as 
high  an  opinion  of  Mr.  Taylor  and  as  great  an  esteem  for  his 
character  as  for  that  of  any  of  the  distinguished  diplomatists 
who  have  entertained  him  in   Europe.      Mr.  Taylor  regretted 


THE  REVIEW.  .j 

that  the  state  of  mourning  in  which  the  attempt  on  the  Empe- 
ror's life  had  thrown  Berlin,  and  the  presence  of  the  Congress. 
prevented  his  entertaining  the  General  in  a  more  ostentatious 
manner.  But  he  made  all  the  arrangements  with  the  court, 
and  gave  the  General  an  evening  party,  at  which  all  the  Ame- 
ricans in  Berlin  attended.  I  was  surprised  to  find  so  many 
Americans  in  Berlin.  The  General  spent  a  most  pleasant 
evening  with  Mr.  Taylor.  The  next  day  there  was  a  small 
dinner  party  at  the  embassy,  and,  in  addition,  there  was  a  great 
deal  of  going  around  and  seeing  Berlin  in  a  quiet  way,  which 
form  of  foreign  life  the  General  enjoys  beyond  any  other. 

The  Crown  Prince  sent  word  to  General  Grant  asking  him 
to  name  an  hour  when  he  would  review  some  troops  of  all  arms. 
The  General  answered  that  any  hour  most  convenient  for  the 
troops  would  be  pleasant  to  him.  So  it  was  arranged  at  half 
past  seven  in  the  morning.  The  General  asked  Mr.  Coleman, 
of  the  legation,  to  be  one  of  his  company.  It  had  rained  all 
night  a  heavy,  pitching,  blowing  rain,  and  when  the  morning 
came  the  prayers  which  Mr.  Coleman  had  been  offering  up  all 
night  for  better  weather  were  found  to  have  been  of  no  avail. 
The  General  himself  had  a  severe  cold  and  a  chill,  which  had 
been  hanging  over  him  for  two  days,  and  when  he  arose  he 
could  scarcely  speak.  There  was  a  suggestion  that  the  review 
might  be  postponed.  But  the  troops  were  under  way,  as  we 
learned,  and  the  General  would  not  hear  of  the  suggestion. 
He  only  hoped,  he  said,  when  the  Crown  Prince's  officer  came 
to  attend  him,  that  the  display  would  be  as  brief  as  possible 
and  not  severe  upon  the  men.  The  place  selected  was  the 
Tempelhof,  a  large  open  field  outside  of  Berlin.  When  Gene- 
ral Grant  drove  on  the  around  in  a  court  carriage  he  was  met 
by  the  general  commanding  the  Berlin  troops  and  a  large  staff. 
A  horse  from  the  royal  stables  was  in  waiting,  but  the  General 
was  suffering  so  much  that  he  would  not  mount.  The  rain 
kept  on  in  its  wild  way,  and  the  wind  swept  it  in  gusts  across 
the  open  field,  so  much  so  that  in  a  few  moments,  even  with 
the  protection  of  a  carriage,  we  were  all  thoroughly  drenched. 

The  maneuvers  went  on  all  the  same.      There  was  a  sham 


420 


BERLIN. 


fight  with  infantry,  all  the  incidents  of  a  real  battle — moving 
on  the  flank,  in  skirmish  line,  firing  and  retreatine,  firine  and 
advancing.  Then  came  the  order  to  fix  bayonets  and  charge  at 
double  quick,  the  soldiers  shouting  and  cheering  as  they  ad- 
vanced, with  that  ringing  cheer  which  somehow  no  one  hears 
but  in  Saxon  lands,  and  which  stirs  the  blood  like  a  trumpet. 
The  General  was  attended  by  Major  Igel,  an  intelligent  officer. 
The  General  complimented  the  movement  of  the  troops  highly, 
but  said  he  questioned  very  much  whether  in  modern  war  the 
saber  or  the  bayonet  were  of  use. 

"What  I  mean,"  said  the  General,  "is  this:  anything  that 
adds  to  the  burdens  carried  by  the  soldier  is  a  weakness  to  the 
army.  Every  ounce  he  carries  should  tell  in  his  efficiency. 
The  bayonet  is  heavy,  and  if  it  were  removed,  or  if  its  weight 
in  food  or  ammunition  were  added  in  its  place,  the  army  would 
be  stronger.  As  for  the  bayonet  as  a  weapon,  if  soldiers  come 
near  enough  to  use  it  they  can  do  as  much  good  with  the  club- 
end  of  their  muskets.  The  same  is  true  as  to  sabers.  I  would 
take  away  the  bayonet,  and  give  the  soldiers  pistols  in  place  of 
sabers.     A  saber  is  always  an  awkward  thing  to  carry." 

Major  Igel  did  not  think  the  experiences  of  the  Prussian 
army  would  sustain  the  General's  view.  He  knew  of  cases 
where  effective  work  had  been  done  with  the  bayonet,  and  that 
the  Prussians  were  not  likely  to  abandon  it.  The  General  said 
no  doubt  war  showed  instances  when  the  bayonet  was  effective, 
but  those  instances  were  so  few  that  he  did  not  think  they 
would  pay  for  the  heavy  burden  imposed  upon  an  army  by  the 
carrying  of  the  bayonet.  In  any  army  he  commanded  he  would 
feel  like  taking  away  the  bayonet,  and  telling  the  men  to  trust 
to  the  but-ends  of  their  muskets.  It  is  due  to  the  major  to 
say  that  he  was  not  convinced  by  the  General's  reasoning,  but 
the  discussion  may  have  a  value  as  a  bit  of  military  criticism. 

After  the  maneuvers  and  the  sham  fight  there  was  a  march 
past,  the  General  reviewing  the  line  with  bared  head,  to  which 
the  pitiless  rain  showed  no  mercy. 

"  These  are  fine  soldiers,"  he  said,  and  thanked  the  com- 
mander for  his  courtesy. 


THE  REVIEW. 


421 


Then  came  artillery  practice,  the  guns  firing  and  sweeping 
over  the  field  in  a  whirling,  mad  pace.  This  was  followed  by 
an  artillery  march  past,  which  the  General  reviewed  on  foot, 
the  rain  beating  clown  all  the  time.  Then  came  cavalry.  This 
was  the  most  interesting  phase  of  the  display,  especially  one 
movement  where  the  battalion  broke  into  disorder  and  rallied 
a<rain. 

"  This,"  said  the  major,  "  we  do  to  accustom  our  men  to  the 
contingency  of  disorder  on  the   field  and  enable  every  man  to 


know  how  to  take  care  of  himself."  The  movement  was  effec- 
tive and  beautiful,  and  showed,  said  the  General,  the  highest 
state  of  discipline.  It  was  followed  by  a  charge  and  a  march 
past,  the  General  on  foot  reviewing,  and  the  rain  whirling  in 
heavy  gusts. 

After  this  we  all  drove  to  a  military  hospital  and  inspected 
it.  Then  to  the  quarters  of  a  cavalry  regiment  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  Prince  of  Hohenzollern.  The  General  was  re- 
ceived by  the  officers,  and  went  carefully  through  the  quarters. 


422  BERLIN. 

He  observed  that  spurs  were  more  used  in  the  Prussian  than 
in  the  American  cavalry  service,  which  he  said,  "  I  think  to  be 
an  advantage."  After  inspection  there  was  a  quiet  mess-room 
lunch  and  a  good  deal  of  military  talk,  which  showed  that  the 
General  had  not  forgotten  his  trade. 

The  General,  at  the  close  of  the  lunch,  asked  permission  to 
propose  the  prosperity  of  the  regiment  and  the  health  of  the 
colonel.  It  was  a  regiment  of  which  any  army  would  be 
proud,  and  he  hoped  a  day  of  trial  would  never  come  ;  but  if 
it  did  he  was  sure  it  would  do  its  part  to  maintain  the  an- 
cient success  of  the  Prussian  army.  He  also  desired  to  ex- 
press his  thanks  to  the  Crown  Prince  for  the  pains  that  had 
been  taken  to  show  him  this  sample  of  his  magnificent  army. 
The  prince  answered  in  German,  which  Major  Igel  translated, 
that  he  was  much  complimented  by  the  General's  toast,  and 
that  the  annals  of  his  regiment  would  always  record  the  pride 
they  felt  in  having  had  at  their  mess  and  as  their  guest  so  illus- 
trious a  leader.  This  closed  the  military  services  of  the  day, 
and  we  drove  home.  On  our  way  home  the  skies  relented  and 
the  sun  began  to  shine. 

On  reaching  the  hotel  about  noon,  a  rustle  in  the  crowd  that 
never  leaves  the  pavement  in  front  of  the  Kaiserhof,  watching 
Grant,  Beaconsfield,  and  the  famous  men  who  live  here,  showed 
that  something  special  was  on  foot.  The  General  went  to  his 
apartment,  and  a  few  minutes  later  a  coupe  was  seen  driving 
around  the  square,  people  were  seen  running  after,  the  guard 
presented  arms,  passers-by  stopped  and  saluted,  waiters  and 
cafe  idlers  came  rushing  out,  holding  napkins  and  mugs  of 
beer.  Then  came  that  whisper  that  somehow  gets  into  the 
air  when  any  unusual  event  is  happening.  "  Bismarck's  com- 
ing." In  a  moment  the  coupe  stopped,  and  the  prince  de- 
scended and  touched  his  hat  to  the  crowd.  He  wore  a  full 
military  uniform,  with  a  gilded  helmet  on  his  head,  and  was 
conducted  to  the  apartments  of  the  General. 

The  General  presented  the  prince  to  his  wife  and  Mrs. 
Taylor,  the  wife  of  the  minister.  Prince  Bismarck  expressed 
again   his  satisfaction  at  seeing  General  Grant  and  his  wife  in 


VISIT  OF  PRINCE   BISMARCK. 


4-3 


Germany,  and  hoped  Mrs.  Grant  would  carry  home  the  best 
impressions  of  the  country.  It  had  been  raining  all  day,  and 
the  skies  were  heavy  with  clouds  ;  and  the  General  himself,  suf- 
fering from  a  cold,  had  been  sitting  in  a  carriage  for  two  hours, 
the  rain  beating  on  his  face,  watching  horsemen,  artillery,  and 
infantry  march  and  countermarch  over  the  Tempelhof  grounds. 
Altogether  it  had  been  a  trying  day,  for  everybody  felt  cheer- 
less and  damp.  But  Mrs.  Grant  has  a  nature  that  would  see 
as  much  sunshine  in  Alaska  as  in  Italy,  and  on  whose  temper 
rain  or  snow  never  makes  an  impression.  Mrs.  Grant  told  his 
highness  how  delighted  she  was  with  Germany,  with  Potsdam, 
and  the  Crown  Prince, 
and  more  especially  the 
Crown  Princess,  whose 
motherly,  w  o  m  a  n  1  y 
ways  had  won  quite  a 
place  in  her  own  wo- 
manly, motherly  heart. 
They  had  had  pleasant 
talks  about  children, 
households,  w  e  d  d  i  n  g 
anniversaries,  and  do- 
mestic manners  in  Ger- 
many, and  had  no  doubt 
exchanged  a  world  of 
that  sweet  and  sacred 
information  which  ladies 
like  to  bestow  on  one 
another  in  the  confi- 
dence of  friendly  con- 
versation. Moreover, 
she  was  pleased  to  see  Prince  Bismarck,  and  expressed  that 
pleasure ;  and  then  there  was  a  half  hour  of  the  pleasantest 
talk,  not  about  politics  or  wars  or  statesmanship,  but  on  very 
human  themes. 

The  gentler  side   of   the   prince    came    into   play,  and   one 
who   was   present  formed   the   opinion    that   there  was   a  very 


BRANDENBURGBS   GATE. 


424 


BERLIN. 


sunny  side  to  the  man  of  blood  and  iron.  As  two  o'clock  drew 
near  the  prince  arose  and  said,  "  I  must  go  to  my  Congress, 
for,  you  see,  although  the  business  does  not  concern  us  greatly, 
it  is  business  that  must  be  attended  to."  The  General  escorted 
the  prince.  As  he  entered  his  coupe  the  crowd  had  become 
dense,  for  Bismarck  rarely  appears  in  public  now,  and  all  Berlin 
honors  him  as  foremost  among  German  men. 

A  grand  dinner  was  given  by  Prince  Bismarck  to  our  Ex- 
President.  Now  this  authentic  history  would  not  be  complete 
unless  I  gave  the  method  of  invitation  with  the  menu  in  fullest 
detail.  The  invitation  card  was  in  German — a  large,  plain 
card,  as  follows  : 

FUERST   VON   BISMARCK 
beehrt  sich  General  U.  S.  Grant  zum  Diner 
am  Montag,  den  i.  Juli,  um  6  Uhr,  ganz  erge- 
benst  einzuladen. 
U.  A.  w.  g. 

The  menu  was  in  French,  and  I  give  the  exact  copy : 

MENU. 

Lundi,  le  ier  juillet. 

Potage  Mulligatawny. 

Fates  a  la  financiere. 

Turbot  d'Ostende  a  l'Anglaise. 

Quartier  de  bceuf  a  la  Holsteinaise. 

Canetons  aux  olives. 

Ris  de  veau  a  la  Milanaise. 

Punch  romain. 

Poulardes  de  Bruxelles. 

Salad  e.     Compotes. 

Fonds  d'artichauts  a  la  Hollandaise. 

Pain  de  fraises  a  la  Chantilly. 

Glaces. 

Dessert. 

The  General,  with  his  military  habits  of  promptness,  en- 
tered the  palace  at  six  precisely,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  Mr. 
Bayard  Taylor,  the  Minister,  and  Mrs.  Taylor,  and  H.  Sidney 
Everett,  the  Secretary  of  Legation.  The  Prince  and  Princess 
Bismarck  and  the  Countess  Marie  Grafin  von  Bismarck,  ac- 
companied by  the  prince's  two  sons,  met  the  General  at  the 
door  of   the  salon  and    presented   him  to   the   various   guests. 


DINNER   AT  PRINCE  BISMARCK'S.  ,2- 

There  was  a  hearty  greeting  for  the  minister  and  his  party,  and 
the  princess  and  Mrs.  Grant  were  soon  floating  on  the  waves  of 
an  animated  conversation.  The  company  was  about  thirty,  and  a 
few  moments  after  the  General's  arrival  dinner  was  announced. 
The  prince  led  the  way,  escorting  Mrs.  Grant,  who  sat  on  his 
right,  with  Mrs.  Taylor  on  his  left,  the  General  and  the  prin- 
cess vis-a-vis,  with  Mr.  Von  Schlozer,  the  German  Minister  at 
Washington,  between  them.  The  remainder  of  the  company 
were  members  of  the  cabinet  and  distinguished  officials  of 
Berlin.  The  dinner  was  sumptuous,  and  admirable  in  every 
respect.  About  half  past  seven  or  later  it  was  over,  and  the 
company  adjourned  to  another  salon. 

In  order  to  reach  this  apartment  the  company  passed 
through  the  room  devoted  to  the  Congress.  It  seemed  like 
coming  into  some  awful  presence  to  be  in  the  very  chamber 
where  the  ruling  minds  of  Europe,  the  masters  of  legions,  the 
men  who  govern  the  world,  daily  meet  to  determine  the  destiny 
of  millions — to  determine  peace  or  war. 

We  came  to  an  antechamber.  The  General  and  Bismarck 
sat  on  a  small  sofa  near  the  window  looking  out  upon  the  glo- 
rious swaying  trees  in  the  park.  The  ladies  clustered  into 
another  group  around  the  princess,  who  has  one  of  the  best 
and  kindest  faces  I  have  ever  seen.  The  remainder  of  the 
party  broke  into  groups,  wandering  about  the  balcony  to  talk 
about  the  weather,  the  trees,  the  rain,  the  Congress,  the  Kaiser, 
and  the  other  themes  that  seem  to  float  about  in  every  Berlin 
conversation. 

The  General  was  made  comfortable  with  a  cigar,  but  the 
prince  would  not  smoke  a  cigar.  His  doctors,  who  had  been 
bothering  him  about  many  things,  had  even  interfered  with  his 
tobacco,  and  all  they  would  allow  him  was  a  pipe.  Just  such  a 
pipe  as  the  American  mind  associates  with  a  Hollander  or  Ger- 
man— a  pipe  with  a  black,  heavy  bowl,  a  smoking  machine 
about  two  feet  long.  This  the  prince  nursed  beneath  his  knees, 
with  his  head  bent  forward  in  the  full  tide  of  an  animated 
conversation. 

If  I  had  any  skill  in  drawing  I  should  like  to  sketch  the  scene 


426 


BERLIN. 


between  Grant  and  Bismarck.  The  Chancellor — I  came  near 
saying  the  old  Chancellor  (J  was  thinking  of  his  gray  and  wan 
face,  and  forgetting  that  he  is  a  young  man,  as  chancellors  go) 
— the  Chancellor  had  lying  stretched  before  him  one  faithful 
friend,  a  black  Danish  dog  of  the  hound  species.  This  dog 
has  made  a  place  for  himself  in  the  affections  of  Berlin.  He 
has  full  run  of  the  palace,  and  took  as  much  pains  as  the  prince 
to  make  himself  agreeable  to  his  guests.  He  and  the  prince 
are  inseparable  companions,  and  there  is  a  story  that  when 
Prince  Gortschakoff  came  one  day  to  see  Bismarck  the  dog 
made  an  anti-Russian  demonstration  against  the  Russian's  lees. 
All  Berlin  laughed  over  the  story,  which  is  too  good  to  be 
denied. 

But  on  this  occasion  the  Danish  hound  was  in  the  most  gra- 
cious mood,  and  while  the  General  and  the  prince  were  in  con- 
versation— the  General  tugging  his  cigar,  which  he  is  sure  to 
allow  to  go  out  if  the  theme  becomes  an  interesting  one,  and 
the  prince  patting  his  pipe  as  if  he  loved  it — the  dog  lay  at 
their  feet  in  placid  acquiescence,  with  one  eye  now  and  then 
wandering  over  the  guests  to  see  that  order  was  respected. 
The  scene  between  the  soldier  and  the  statesman  was  worthy 
of  remembrance. 

The  General  and  the  prince  talked  mainly  upon  the  re- 
sources of  the  two  countries  ;  and  this  is  a  theme  upon  which 
the  General  never  tires,  and  which,  so  far  as  America  is  con- 
cerned, he  knows  as  well  as  any  man  in  the  world.  The  con- 
trast between  the  two  faces  was  a  study  ;  for  I  take  it  no  two 
faces,  of  this  generation  at  least,  have  been  more  widely  drawn. 
In  expression  Bismarck  has  what  might  be  called  an  intense 
face,  a  moving,  restless  eye,  that  might  flame  in  an  instant. 
His  conversation  is  irregular,  rapid,  audacious,  with  gleams  of 
humor,  saying  the  oddest  and  frankest  things,  and  enjoying 
anything  that  amuses  him  so  much  that  frequently  he  will  not, 
cannot  finish  the  sentence  for  laughing.  Grant,  whose  enjoy- 
ment of  humor  is  keen,  never  passes  beyond  a  smile.  In  con- 
versation he  talks  his  theme  directly  out  with  care,  avoiding  no 
detail,  correcting  himself  if  lie  slips  in  a  detail,  exceedingly  accu- 


DINNER   AT  PRINCE  BISMARCK'S. 


427 


rate  in  statement,  always  talking  well,  because  he  never  talks 
about  what  he  does  not  know.  In  comparing  the  two  faces 
you  note  how  much  more  youth  there  is  in  that  of  Grant  than 
of  Bismarck.  Grant's  face  was  tired  enough  a  year  ago,  when 
he  came  here  jaded  with  the  anxieties  arising  from  the  Electoral 
Commission  ;  it  had  that  weary  look  which  you  see  in  Bis- 
marck's, but  it  has  gone,  and  of  the  two  men  you  would  cer- 
tainly deem  Grant  the  junior  by  twenty  years. 


WILLIAM  S 


Mr.  Taylor,  the  American  Minister,  was  evidently  impressed 
with  the  historical  value  of  the  meeting  of  Grant  and  Bismarck. 
He  remembered  a  German  custom  that  you  can  never  cement 
a  friendship  without  a  glass  of  old-fashioned  schnapps.  There 
was  a  bottle  of  a  famous  schnapps  cordial  among  other  bottles. 
I  am  afraid  to  say  how  old  it  was.  The  Minister  said,  "  Gene- 
ral, no  patriotic  German  will  believe  that  there  can  ever  be 
lasting  friendship  between  Germany  and  the  United  States 
unless  yourself  and  the  prince  pledge  eternal  amity  between  all 
Germans  and  Americans  over   a  glass  of  this  schnapps."     The 


428 


BERLIN. 


prince  laughed  and  thanked  the  minister  for  the  suggestion. 
The  schnapps  was  poured  out,  the  General  and  prince  touched 
glasses,  the  vows  were  exchanged  in  hearty  fashion,  and  the 
prince,  rising,  led  Mrs.  Grant  through  the  hall. 

As  the  party  passed  into  the  room  where  the  Congress  meets 
the  prince  explained  the  position  of  the  members  and  made 
some  comments  on  the  manner  of  doing  business.  "  We  do 
not  get  on  rapidly  for  one  reason,"  he  said  ;  "because  nearly  every 
member  when  he  speaks  does  it  in  so  low  a  voice  that  he  has  to 
say  it  all  over  again."  At  the  head  of  the  stairs  the  party 
separated,  the  prince  kissing  the  hand  of  Mrs.  Grant  in  knightly 
German  fashion. 

So  much  for  this  dinner,  which  in  a  certain  sense  may  be  con- 
sidered as  an  historical  one,  and  on  which  I  have  purposely 
dwelt  at  full  length. 

Berlin  is,  of  course,  at  the  present  moment  in  a  political  fever, 
as  the  various  phases  of  European  politics  are  being  developed. 
We  all  of  us  hear  the  gravest  questions  discussed,  with  every 
variety  of  opinion.  There  is  so  much  I  might  say  about 
"questions"  regarding  Bessarabia,  Roumania,  and  Batoum. 
The  air  is  resonant  with  these  hard  Oriental  names,  and  every 
one  you  meet  presents  you  with  "views"  and  has  his  own  plan 
about  settling  the  affairs  of  Europe.  I  abandon  heroic  themes, 
and  only  describe  what  is  more  amusing,  how  Grant  and  Bis- 
marck talked  and  dined  and  drank  the  friendly  schnapps. 

The  time  spent  in  Berlin  had  not  a  single  unoccupied  mo- 
ment. Invitations  from  all  sides  flowed  on  the  General,  and 
requests  were  sent  offering  hospitalities  which,  in  some  cases, 
almost  partook  of  the  character  of  royal  commands.  But  the 
strength  of  the  party  would  quite  likely  have  been  overtaxed 
had  all  this  kindness  been  accepted,  and  a  great  many  of  these 
courtesies  were  regretfully  declined.  Those  of  us  who  wished 
to  see  the  methods  of  living  such  as  are  represented  by  the 
restaurants,  which  abound  in  Berlin,  found  them  excellent, 
though  at  prices  quite  equal,  if  not  exceeding,  the  cost  of  similar 
dinners  in  Paris. 

The  cordial  greeting  the  General  had  met  with  in  Berlin  on 


OFF  FOR   DENMARK.  ,  2g 

his  arrival  was  continued  without  interruption  up  to  the  last 
moment  of  his  departure.  Although  it  would  not  have  been 
surprising  if  the  people  of  Berlin  had  become  tired  of  seeino- 
so  many  great  men  in  their  city  at  one  time,  their  enthusiasm 
and  respect  for  the  Ex-President  of  the  United  States  seemed 
to  increase  every  day  while  he  was  in  the  city.  His  quiet 
manners,  his  dislike  of  ostentation,  even  the  constant  ci^ar  in 
his  mouth,  seemed  to  them  to  partake  of  some  of  the  cha- 
racteristics of  their  own  country.  Our  stay  in  Berlin  might 
have  been  indefinitely  prolonged,  but  we  are  called  on  to  visit 
other  lands.  It  is  up  and  march  again.  Our  preparations  are 
being  made  for  our  journey  almost  due  north,  and  we  hope 
soon  to  be  in  Norway.  We  are  to  leave  for  Copenhagen  via 
Hamburg. 


CHRISTIANIA. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 


DENMARK,  NORWAY,  AND  SWEDEN. 


)T  is  true  our  journey  is  now  due  north,  but  still  as  the 
General's  capacity  for  traveling  is  insatiable  we  are  to 
zigzag  a  little  before  reaching  the  Scandinavian  penin- 
sula. Though  Berlin  sight-seeing  and  military  reviews 
had  fully  occupied  the  General's  attention  and  taxed  him  to  the 
utmost,  he  really  seems  to  feel  no  fatigue,  but  enters  on  this 
northern  journey  as  fresh  as  at  the  outset  of  this  already  very 
much  extended  travel.  Now  Hamburg,  though  a  commercial 
city,  is  one  of  pleasure,  ami  thither  we  bend  our  way.  We 
have  often  heard  German-Americans  say,  "Yes,  Paris  and 
Vienna  are  all  very  good  in  their  way — so  is  New  York  ;  but 
if  you  really  wish  to  find  a  place  where  true  enjoyment  can  be 
found  we  commend  Hamburg  to  your  notice."  From  Berlin  to 
Hamburg  the  distance  is  a  trifle  over  one  hundred  and  seventy- 

430 


HAMBURG.  ,,, 

five  miles.  The  trip,  like  all  railroad  journeys  in  German)-,  was 
made  with  great  comfort,  for  in  no  other  country  are  the  rail- 
roads constructed  with  so  much  thoroughness  and  stability. 
The  roadbed  is  most  perfect,  and  the  arrangement  of  the  car- 
riages and  the  general  equipment  are  admirable.  The  speed 
too  is  quite  as  great  as  that  of  trains  in  America.  Of  course, 
the  roads  are  worked  under  the  supervision  of  the  Govern- 
ment and,  like  many  other  things  in  Prussia,  are  to  some  ex- 
tent under  military  rule.  The  paternal  character  of  the  go- 
vernment is  perhaps  seen  a  little  bit  too  much  at  times  in 
certain  notices  posted  in  all  stations,  and  occasionally  in  the 
cars,  where  the  traveler  is  instructed  when  a  window  may  be 
opened  and  when  it  is  to  be  closed;  but  still  as  the  European 
public  generally  are  not  so  nomadic  or  as  well  posted  as  are  our 
own  people,  such  rules  and  regulations  are  perhaps  quite  ne- 
cessary. In  Prussia,  railroad  management  is  carried  out  to 
the  utmost  perfection,  and  accidents  or  delays  are  exceed- 
ingly rare.  Everything  is  provided  for  which  may  help  the 
traveler  on  his  way.  There  are  sign-posts  to  guide  him,  and 
railway  officials  to  direct  his  steps.  Your  American  tourist  at 
home  is  supposed  to  have  an  intuitive  perception  of  what  exact 
car  he  must  get  into,  and  is  allowed  to  take  care  of  himself. 
In  Europe  generally,  and  most  especially  in  Germany,  it  is  just 
the  contrary.  The  traveler  is  thought  to  be  an  ignorant  per- 
son, and  is  accordingly  to  be  prompted  where  to  go  to  and  what 
to  do.  The  country  we  pass  through  en  route  for  Hamburg  one 
cannot  call  beautiful,  as  it  is  rather  sandy,  though  this  arid 
aspect  decreases  as  the  river  Elbe  is  neared.  A  short  time 
after  leaving  Berlin  we  hear  the  town  of  Spandau  called  by  the 
railroad  conductor.  Spandau  recalls  to  us  a  military  prison, 
and  the  stories  of  hair-breadth  escapes.  It  is  at  Spandau  in 
a  grim  old  fortress  that  a  goodly  part  of  the  French  indem- 
nity is  held  for  safe  keeping.  If  money  be  the  sinew  of  war, 
very  certainly  Prussia  has  plenty  of  it  provided  for  her  by  her 
enemy. 

We  reach   Hamburg  on  July  2d,  and  are  at  once  delighted 
with    its   appearance.      It   is   the   busiest  place   apparently   we 


.-2  DENMARK,   NORWAY,    AND   SWEDEN. 

have  yet  met  in  Germany.  Everything  seems  alive  and  stir- 
ring Omnibuses,  carriages,  and  great  trucks  loaded  down  with 
o-oods  are  rumbling  in  every  direction.  The  thoroughfares  are 
throno-ed  with  foot  passengers.  The  streets  seem  to  us  to  be 
both  new  and  old.  In  the  same  row  are  houses  built  centuries 
a°T>,  and  aloneside  of  them  new  constructions  erected  only  yes- 
terday.  The  irregularity  of  the  streets  is  not  unpleasant,  for  in 
many  parts  of  the  city  land  and  water  are  combined.  It  is  re- 
corded in  the  annals  of  Hamburg  that  up  to  the  middle  of  the 
last  century  this  city  was  a  villainously  dirty  town,  and  wretch- 
edly built,  but  that  it  owes  its  present  agreeable  appearance  to 
a  series  of  fires  which,  having  destroyed  half  the  town,  caused 
it  to  be  rebuilt  with  the  present  improvements.  Never  was 
there  a  city  which  recalled  more  its  maritime  importance. 
Sailors  and  men  of  foreign  birth  in  strange  costumes  are  seen 
everywhere,  and  there  are  painted  signs  in  all  known  languages. 
The  port  is  full  of  ships  bearing  the  colors  of  various  nations. 
There  is  no  end  of  water  communication  in  Hamburg,  and 
small  steamers  are  constantly  plying.  The  commercial  great- 
ness of  this  city  need  not  be  descanted  upon.  In  the  United 
States  we  all  know  that  from  Hamburg  come  the  most  intelli- 
o-ent  of  our  foreign  merchants,  and  that  a  clerk  with  a  Hamburg 
training  is  supposed  to  be  a  graduate  in  the  higher  branches  of 
trading  The  Exchange,  into  which  some  of  us  venture,  is  a 
vast  building  where  transactions  to  enormous  amounts  are 
being  daily  carried  out.  We  are  very  much  at  home  at  Ham- 
burg, and  enjoy  all  its  hospitalities.  We  find  that  the  pleasures 
of  the  city  have  not  been  in  the  least  exaggerated.  Invita- 
tions to  dinners,  to  suppers,  to  evening  receptions  are  sent  to 
the  Ex-President.  In  fact,  the  people  of  Hamburg,  as  well  as 
the  American  residents,  did  all  that  the  kindest  hospitality 
could  dictate  to  make  the  General's  stay  in  their  city  pleasant 
and  agreeable.  We  find,  in  contrasting  Hamburg  with  the  other 
principal  cities  of  Germany  which  wc  have  so  far  visited,  that 
there  is  a  trifle  less  of  that  military  feeling  and  martinet  pro- 
clivity which  casts  the  least  bit  of  a  shadow  over  one's  personal 
ease,  and   makes  an    American   feel   uncomfortable.     The   self- 


HAMBURG. 


433 


importance  of  Germany  is  not  so  persistently  brought  into 
prominence  in  Hamburg.  This  is  no  doubt  due  to  commer- 
cial causes.  Hamburg  sends  her  ships  to  every  port  of  im- 
portance on  the  globe ;  they  return  freighted  with  the  riches 
of  the  world,  and  her  citizens,  from  so  much  communication 
with  other  nations,  very  naturally  imbibe  cosmopolitan  ideas. 
Ideas  ever  expand  as  commerce  rules,  and  the  great  city  of 
the  Hanseatic  League,  though  her  liberties  be  somewhat  shorn, 


HAMBURG. 


asserts  her  individuality.  She  has  her  true  aristocracy  of 
merchant  princes,  who  spend  their  money  nobly,  and  who 
have  endowed  their  handsome  city  with  lasting  monuments 
in  the  way  of  libraries,  schools,  public  gardens,  and  chari- 
table institutions.  Hamburg  is  one  of  the  great  commercial 
feeders  of  Germany,  and  as  a  distributing  point  is  of  vast  im- 
portance. Of  course  the  relationships  of  friendship  and  com- 
merce between  Hamburg  and  New  York  and  many  other  ports 
in  the  United  States  are  very  close.  If  we  had  been  somewhat 
deprived  of  newspapers,  and  the  possibility  of  finding  out  all  the 
28 


„,,,  DENMARK,   NORWAY,    AND   SWEDEN. 

news  about  home  while  in  Berlin,  here  at  Hamburg  all  the 
familiar  journals  of  the  leading  American  cities  were  presented 
to  us  for  our  perusal. 

On  the  day  of  our  arrival  the  General  dined  quietly  with  the 
American  Consul,  Mr.  J.  M.  Wilson.  There  was  the  usual 
evening  tramp  about  the  city,  and  next  morning  a  deputation 
of  the  Hamburo-  Senate  called  and  welcomed  the  General. 
Hamburg,  as  one  of  the  members  of  the  old  Hanseatic  Confede- 

o' 

ration,  is  a  free  city,  and  governed  by  a  senate  and  a  burgo- 
master. Although  a  part  of  the  more  modern  machine  of  the 
German  Empire,  it  still  retains  some  of  its  municipal  privileges, 
being  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  republic,  as  it  has  been  for 
a  thousand  years.  The  General  admired  the  city  greatly,  and 
was  especially  pleased  with  its  order  and  perfection,  and  was 
indifferent  to  the  rain-storms  which  set  in  on  our  arrival.  If, 
however,  any  one  would  enjoy  God's  gifts  on  this  northwestern 
coast  of  Europe  he  must  take  them  with  rain. 

Hamburg  entertained  the  General  with  hearty  good  will. 
On  the  morning  after  his  arrival  he  was  taken  by  the  senators 
on  board  a  small  steamer  and  made  a  tour  of  the  docks  and 
basins  and  a  small  run  into  the  Elbe.  The  ships  were  all 
decked  with  bunting.  The  trip  was  pleasant,  notwithstanding  the 
rain.  In  the  evening  there  was  a  dinner  given  by  the  senate 
at  the  Zoological  Gardens,  the  burgomaster,  Dr.  Kirchenssauer, 
in  the  chair.  Among  the  senators  present  were  Senators  Os- 
wald, Stamer,  Moring,  and  Hertze.  The  burgomaster  proposed 
the  General's  health  in  the  kindest  terms,  speaking  of  the  honor 
Hamburg  received  from  his  visit.  The  next  day,  being  the 
Fourth  of  July,  the  General  went  down  to  the  country  residence 
of  James  R.  MacDonald,  the  vice  consul,  and  spent  the  after- 
noon walking  about  the  woods  and  talking  with  American 
friends.  Then  came  a  dinner  at  a  country  hotel  nearby,  where 
about  thirty  American  ladies  and  gentlemen  were  present, 
the  consul  presiding.  Mr.  Wilson  proposed  the  General's 
health  as  "  the  man  who  had  saved  the  country."  This  toast 
was  drunk  with  cheers,  to  which  the  General  responded  as 
follows : 


FOURTH   OF  JULY  AT  HAMBURG. 


435 


"Mr.    Consul    and    Friends:  I  am   much  obliged  to  you  for  the  kind 
manner  in  which   you   drink  my  health.     I  share   with  you  in  all  the  pleasure 
and  gratitude  which  Americans  so  far  from   home  should   feel  on  this  anni- 
versary.    But  I   must   dissent  from  one  remark   of  our  consul,   to  the  effect 
that  I  saved  the   country  during  the   recent  war.     If  our  country  could  be 
saved  or  ruined  by  the  efforts  of  any  one  man  we  should  not  have  a  country, 
and  we  should  not  be  now  celebrating  our  Fourth  of  July.     There  are  many  men 
who  would  have  done  far  bet- 
ter than  I  did  under  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  I  found 
myself  during  the   war.     If  I 
had  never  held  command  ;  if  I 
had  fallen  ;  if  all  our  generals 
had    fallen,    there    were    t  e  n 
thousand  behind  us  who  would 
have  done    our   work   just    as 
well,  who  would  have  followed 
the    contest   to   the   end   and 
never  surrendered  the  Union. 
Therefore  it  is  a  mistake  and 
a  reflection  upon  the  people  to 
attribute  to  me,  or  to  any  num- 
ber of  us  who  held  high  com- 
mands,   the    salvation    of   the 
Union.     We  did  our  work  as 
well  as  we  could,  and  so  did 
hundreds   of    thousands  of 
others.     We  deserve  no  credit 
for  it,  for  we  should  have  been 
unworthy  of  our  country  and 
of  the  American  name  if   we 
had   not  made  every  sacrifice 
to  save  the  Union.    What  saved 
the  Union  was  the  coming  forward  of  the  young  men   of  the   nation.     They 
came  from  their  homes  and  fields,  as  they  did  in  the  time  of  the  Revolution, 
giving  everything  to  the  country.     To  their  devotion  we  owe  the  salvation  of 
the  Union.     The  humblest  soldier  who  carried  a  musket  is  entitled  to  as  much 
credit  for  the  results  of  the   war  as  those  who  were  in  command.     So  long 
as  our  young  men  are  animated  by  this  spirit  there  will  be  no  fear  for  the 
Union." 


CHUhCH    OF    ST.  JAMES — HAMBURG. 


Among  those  present — for  the  company  was  almost  entirely- 
American — were  J.  M.  Wilson,  the  Consul  ;  J.  R.  MacDonald, 
the  Vice  Consul;   Mr.  Click,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Danna,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 


436  DENMARK,   NORWAY,   AND   SWEDEN. 

Warburg,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Slattery,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Politz,  Miss 
Politz,  Miss  Gibson,  and  Miss  Wolff.  There  was  some  dancing: 
in  a  quiet  way,  and  as  we  rode  to  the  railway  station  there  were 
fireworks  in  the  woods  at  various  points.  The  next  day  the 
General  lunched  at  the  house  of  Baron  von  Ohlendorf,  one  of 
the  leading-  merchants  of  Hamburg.  The  house  of  the  baron 
is  a  palace  and  the  entertainment  was  regal.  Among  the  com- 
pany present  were  the  Prussian  Minister  to  Hamburg,  the  com- 
mander of  the  Prussian  garrison,  Senators  Godefroy  and  Moring, 
and  a  large  representation  of  the  great  merchants  and  bankers 
of  the  city.  The  consul  told  me  how  many  millions  there 
were  represented  at  the  table,  but  I  have  forgotten,  and  will  not 
dare  to  guess.  Hamburg,  however,  has  reason  to  be  proud  of 
these  masters  of  her  prosperity.  The  General  was  carried  off 
to  the  races,  for  the  Hamburgers  were  bent  on  his  seeing  their 
track.  It  rained,  however,  and  after  seeing  one  spin  around 
the  turf,  the  General  returned  to  his  hotel.  Among  other  inci- 
dents ot  the  visit  was  the  appearance  of  a  Prussian  military 
band  in  front  of  the  General's  hotel  window  at  eight  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  the  Fourth  and  a  serenade.  I  copy  the  pro- 
gramme : 

1.  "  Hail  Columbia." 

2.  Overture,  2.  d.  op.  "  Die  Stumme  von  Portici,"  von  Auber. 

3.  Chor  der  Biester  a.  d.  op.  "  Die  Zauberflote,"  von  Mozart. 

4.  Entre  act  und  Brautchor  a.  d.  oper.  "  Lohengrin,"  von  Wagner. 

Our  stay  in  Hamburg  might  have  been  extended  over  weeks 
if  the  General  had  attempted  to  accept  a  tithe  of  the  many  kind 
invitations  offered  him.  But  we  are  for  Norway  and  Sweden 
now,  taking  Denmark  en  route. 

From  Hamburg  our  course  for  a  while  is  due  north  again, 
though  the  General  has  concluded  to  diverge  to  the  east  some 
little  and  to  pay  Copenhagen  a  flying  visit  before  going  to 
Christiania.  We  leave  Hamburg  on  July  6th,  journey  rapid- 
ly through  Schleswig-Holstein  and  Denmark,  and  cross  the 
Great  Belt,  where  we  gain  a  first  view  of  the  interior  seas  of 
Northern  Europe  before  reaching  Copenhagen.      It  may  be  a 


COPENHAGEN. 


437 


very  trite  expression,  but  certainly  the  actual  visiting  of  certain 
places  dispels  many  false  impressions.  Of  course  on  the  map 
the  insular  character  of  Denmark  is  well  marked,  but  it  is  the 
Danish  archipelago  which  when  seen  impresses  one  more  par- 
ticularly with  the  peculiarity  of  this  country.      In  appearance  the 


7  '  * 

B»a-»«JlM]!f 

portion  of  Den- 
mark we  traveled 
over  was  Dutch  in 
its  character,  but 
if  anything  more 
bleak  and  less 
under  that  perfec- 
tion of  culture  which  makes  Holland  so  remarkable.  Denmark 
has  not  fared  well  in  the  late  political  combinations  of  Europe, 
and  still  feels  keenly  her  more  recent  loss,  that  of  her  southern 
provinces.  There  is  a  pride  of  race  in  the  Dane  which  no  one 
can  say  is  not   a   proper  one,  for   he   can  look  back   to  a  long 


THE    EXCHANGE. 


^pS  DENMARK,   NORWAY,    AND   SWEDEN. 

and  glorious  history.  More  than  once  she  was  the  conqueror 
of  England,  and  all  Europe  wherever  a  ship  could  sail  has 
felt  her  power.  Denmark,  standing  as  she  did  at  the  entrance 
of  the  Baltic,  exacted  lor  many  years  feudal  rights  over  the 
expanse  of  waters.  I  trust  my  country  has  been  forgiven 
long  ago  because  we  refused  to  pay  Sound  dues  and  asserted 
the  freedom  of  the  seas.  Copenhagen  is  a  most  picturesque 
place,  with  noble  squares  and  stately  houses.  It  seems  strange 
that  in  this  far-off  city  of  the  North,  the  artistic  tendency 
should  be  so  conspicuous,  but  it  is  manifest  everywhere.  Some- 
thing else  that  strike  us  is  the  politeness  of  the  people,  the 
grace  of  their  manner,  and  their  fine  personal  appearance. 
Physiologically  it  is  a  leading  race,  and  being  a  handsome 
one,  has  stamped  its  peculiar  type  on  many  people.  You  see 
the  clear  gray  eye,  the  flaxen  locks,  and  the  finest  of  profiles. 
Situated  partly  on  the  coast  of  Zealand,  Copenhagen  also  oc- 
cupies the  island  of  Amager.  All  these  northern  towns  have 
something  of  a  Venetian  appearance,  for  water  is  used  in  every 
way  possible  as  a  method  of  locomotion.  The  ships  are 
moored  in  canals  which  are  alongside  of  the  busiest  of  the 
streets.  We  are  particularly  struck  by  the  many  brilliant 
costumes  of  the  country  people  who  throng  the  streets.  I 
have  spoken  of  the  artistic  tendency  of  the  Danes,  as  shown 
in  their  city  of  Copenhagen.  This  is  due  to  the  genius  of 
Thorwaldsen.  In  fact,  Denmark  has  had  a  modern  renais- 
sance, with  this  advantage  that  all  that  was  brutal  and  wicked 
in  men's  manners  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  has 
been  eliminated  in  this  new  art  birth.  The  influence  of  Copen- 
hagen has  been  very  great  on  all  Northern  Europe,  in  fact 
over  the  whole  world.  It  is  not  only  the  genius  of  Thor- 
waldsen  which  asserted  its  power,  for  there  was  once  a  famous 
story-teller,  who  delighted  all  children  in  both  the  New  and  Old 
World,  and  made  us  look  to  Denmark  with  love  and  reve- 
rence. Need  I  say  that  it  is  of  Hans  Andersen  that  I  write? 
We  all  know  he  died  but  a  year  or  so  ago,  but  we  are  very 
sure  that  many  a  man  will  remember  until  he  goes  down  to 
his  grave  the  pleasant  stories  Andersen  told  him,  and  in  think- 


ETHNOGRAPHIC  MUSEUM. 


439 


ing  of  them  will  be  a  child  once  more.  We  would  have 
dearly  loved  to  have  seen  good  Hans  Andersen,  and  to 
have  told  him  how  well  he  was  known  and  appreciated  away 
across  the  broad  ocean.  The  veneration  and  respect  paid  to 
Thorwaldsen  is  very  evident  in  Copenhagen,  and  a  great  cen- 
ter of  attraction  is  the  Thorwaldsen  Museum.  Here  are  pre- 
served the  greater  part  of  all  his  works,  some  three  hundred  in 
number.  It  is  the  life,  the  history  of  a  great  genius,  which  can 
be  seen  in  all  its  wonderful  detail.  Though  Thorwaldsen  has 
been  dead  some  thirty-four  years,  his  memory  seems  very  fresh. 
Museums  and  collec- 
tions of  the  greatest 
merit  are  to  be  found 
in  profusion.  In  Rosen- 
borg Castle  are  ex- 
hibited all  the  relics 
beloneinaf  to  a  loner 
race  of  Danish  kings. 
It  is  the  Ethnographic 
Museum,  contained  in 
the  Prindsens  Palais, 
which  is  the  most 
famous  of  its  kind  in 
the  world.  Of  course, 
no  country  save  one 
having  ample  inter- 
course with  the  out- 
side world  could  have 
made  so  perfect  a  col- 
lection. Here  are  the 
antiquities  of  all  ages.  Here  there  is  a  long  series  of  objects 
which  teach  us  the  history,  manners,  or  customs  of  men  of  the 
prehistoric  time.  There  is  an  absolute  thoroughness  in  all  these 
collections,  and  an  intelligent  system  employed  in  their  classifi- 
cation, which  make  them  studied  throughout  Europe.  It  is 
accurate  science  and  an  absolute  acquaintance  with  facts  which 
is  the  great  moving  impulse  of  the  Dane.     As  has  been  before 


R»  ISE  Mil  (KG    i 


440  DENMARK,   NORWAY,   AND   SWEDEN. 

mentioned,  however,  he  is  never  forgetful  of  art.  This  is  mani- 
fest by  the  elegant  appearance  of  all  the  public  buildings,  and 
the  judicious  care  evinced  in  their  decoration.  At  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  city  is  the  Palace  of  Fredericksberg,  in  the 
midst  of  a  beautiful  park.  We  are  attracted  that  way  by  the 
familiar  appearance  of  a  New- York  built  street-car.  Two  or 
three  of  us,  intent  on  a  stroll,  jump  on  the  car,  perfectly  indiffe- 
rent as  to  where  it  is  going,  and  thus  discover  one  of  the  most 
charming  gardens  near  the  city.  Here  the  better  classes  come 
to  drink  their  beer,  and  to  eat  the  delicatessen  which  Denmark 
offers.  On  the  long  summer  evenings,  which  have  scarce  any 
night,  we  love  to  while  away  an  hour  or  so  in  these  gardens. 
We  observe  closely  the  methods  of  Danish  amusement.  It 
is  apparently  very  decorous.  People  seem  to  enjoy  them- 
selves. Young  men  and  handsome  girls  talk,  chat,  and  laugh, 
and  the  parents  join  in  their  glee.  It  is  perfectly  true  that 
we  do  not  at  home  know  how  to  amuse  ourselves  in  a  similar 
sensible  way.  There  is  a  zoological  garden  here  too,  and 
we  follow  great  troops  of  children  and  grown  people  who  are 
to  pay  a  visit  to  the  animals.  Our  visit  to  Copenhagen  is 
short,  almost  too  short,  but  we  are  under  royal  commands, 
and  the  General  bids  us  hasten  away,  for  we  are  to  touch 
at  Sweden,  and  then  be  off  for  Norway.  Need  I  always  repeat 
that  the  Ex- President's  reception,  no  matter  where  he  goes, 
is  of  the  warmest  kind,  and  that  Copenhagen  and  Denmark 
are  all  anxious  to  do  him  honor?  We  bid  our  many  new- 
made  friends  a  good-by,  and  crossing  the  Cattegat,  touch  at 
Gottenburg,  and  then  and  there  make  our  first  acquaintance 
with  the  fjords  of  the  great  Northern  Peninsula.  It  was  the 
heartiest  of  welcomes  that  General  Grant  met  at  Gottenburg. 
There  must  have  been  fully  five  thousand  persons,  all  cheering 
lustily  as  our  vessel  approached  the  town,  so  anxious  were  the 
good  Swedes  to  show  their  respect  to  our  chief.  Again  wns 
the  General  in  what  the  French  call  iui  pays  dc  connaissancc,  for 
so  many  Swedes  have  emigrated  to  the  United  States,  that  his 
fame  has  been  spread  far  and  wide  through  the  Great  North 
Country.     There  was  not  a  big  ship  at  Gottenburg,  not  even  a 


GOTTENBURG.  **x 

fishing  shallop,  that  was  not  gay  with  flags.  It  had  been  the 
General's  desire  to  post  on  at  once  to  Christiania,  but  he  had 
not  the  heart,  after  such  a  welcome,  not  to  accept  at  least  a  por- 
tion of  the  large  hospitality  offered  to  him.  Now  Gottenburg  is 
decidedly  a  place  of  interest,  as  it  presents  what  is  quite  a  rare 
thing  in  Europe,  the  fact  that  a  town  may  be  reborn,  and  from 
being  comparatively  a  dead  city,  like  those  in  Holland,  may 
again  spring  into  life  and  activity.  It  was  great  Gustavus  (who 
rather  tore  down  towns  than  built  them)  who  first  thought 
that  the  position  of  Gottenburg  offered  certain  advantages.  In 
1834  it  was  an  old  town  without  activity,  and  with  very  little  if 
any  business  outside  of  its  local  trade.  About  the  year  1850, 
Gottenburg  began  to  show  signs  of  improvement,  and  it  is  now 
a  handsome  well-built  city,  with  a  population  of  forty  thousand. 
It  does  a  great  lumber  business  with  England,  and  when  iron 
is  wanted  on  the  Continent,  it  is  Gottenburg  that  receives  and 
ships  the  best  Swedish  iron.  It  is  called  not  inappropriately 
the  Liverpool  of  the  North.  There  are  numerous  fine,  broad 
streets,  and  the  houses,  like  all  houses  in  which  well-to-do  mer- 
chants dwell,  have  an  air  of  solid  comfort.  The  weather  is 
simply  delightful  now,  pleasantly  warm  midday,  with  cool  nights 
and  mornings,  and  the  heavens  all  blue  without  a  cloud.  We 
are  getting  farther  and  farther  north,  and  though  it  is  July 
and  days  arc  shortening,  still  we  enjoy  the  long,  clear  even- 
ings. The  day  is  spent  most  enjoyably  at  Gottenburg,  and  we 
go  the  next  morning  to  Christiania.  I  think  the  General  is 
touched  when  he  notices  that  in  his  especial  honor  every  village 
we  pass  near  has  been  decorated  by  the  peasant  folk.  It  is  on 
the  13th  of  fuly  that  we  arrive  at  Christiania,  the  capital  of 
Norway.  If  the  reception  in  Sweden  was  flattering  to  the 
General,  that  in  Norway  I  can  hardly  describe.  It  is  the  most 
spontaneous  of  welcomes.  There  were  fully  ten  thousand  peo- 
ple who  thronged  the  quays  to  see  the  General.  King  Oscar 
himself  had  left  Stockholm,  and  has  made  a  rapid  journey  to 
his  capital  of  Norway,  to  take  the  General  by  the  hand  and  to 
offer  him  all  courtesy.  At  home  we  have  seen  General  Grant 
as    general    and    President    only.     These    are    stations   in    life 


442 


DENMARK,   NORWAY,   AND   SWEDEN. 


where  feelings  and  emotions  must  be  concealed  or  at  least  kept 
under  control.  I  watch  the  General  as  he  receives  the  applause 
of  the  Norsemen  who  give  him  cheer  after  cheer  as  he  puts  his 
foot  on  their  hospitable  shores.  First  the  General  seems  puz- 
zled, then   the  least  bit  of  timidity   is  visible  ;   there  is,  too,   a 


THE   NOKWIiCI 


trace  of  wonderment  apparent;  but  then  he  fairly  unbends,  and 
does  show  some  emotion  in  his  face.  I  even  think  he  looks 
happy  when  he  feels  sure  that  all  this  honor  which  is  paid  him 
is  spontaneous  and  comes  from  the  heart  of  these  northern  folks. 
It  is  a  beautiful  day,  and  the  fresh  sea  air  blows  across  the 
sparkling  waters,  and  makes  little  white  caps  of  foam.  No- 
thing can  be  more  enchantintr  than  the  view  which  Christiania 


CHRIST/.  1. X/A.  „„, 

44.5 

presents.  The  fjord  stretches  out  beyond,  and  looks  like  a  suc- 
cession of  lakes  as  the  view  is  intercepted  by  jutting  headlands. 
The  whole  picture  partakes  of  that  double  character  which  is 
delightful  by  contrast.  Here  are  headlands  bold  and  precipi- 
tous, these  crowned  with  the  most  verdant  culture,  then  black 
rugged  rocks  beyond,  and  hills  clothed  with  firs.  Vessels  are 
sailing  here  and  there  in  the  port.  Some  are  bound  to  America, 
while  others  smaller  are  to  sail  due  north  even  to  the  Arctic 
Seas,  and  fish  in  those  icy  waters.  Turning  from  the  water 
side  to  Christiania  we  see  a  handsome  city,  elegantly  laid  out. 
Imposing  structures  rise  one  over  the  other,  and  beyond  are  the 
evidences  of  culture  in  numerous  handsome  villas  which  crown 
the  green  slopes.  It  is  altogether  a  scene  of  unusual  beauty  and 
of  surpassing  novelty.  Sunshine  may  perhaps  be  scarcer  in 
Norway  than  in  the  United  States,  but  there  is  a  mellow  soft- 
ness in  a  Norse  sun  which  blends  the  various  colors  of  nature 
in  the  most  admirable  way.  This  entrance  to  Christiania  must 
remain  among  the  most  pleasant  reminiscences  of  this  travel. 
The  General's  first  visit  is  to  the  Castle  of  Aggershuus.  This 
old  fortress,  which  commands  the  city,  is  built  on  a  rock,  and 
its  construction  dates  back  from  the  fourteenth  century.  Here 
the  old  records  are  kept,  and  the  fortress  serves  as  a  receptacle 
for  the  trophies  Norway  has  captured  during  the  last  few  cen- 
turies. From  the  castle  a  grand  view  may  be  had  of  Christiania 
and  the  fjord.  We  find  our  lodgings  of  the  most  comfortable 
kind,  and  we  are  soon  perfectly  at  home  with  the  peculiarities 
of  the  Norse  cuisine.  If  anything  the  food  one  finds  in  the 
north  is  very  substantial.  With  the  differences  of  climate, 
and  some  peculiar  quality  in  the  air,  appetites  are  amazingly 
increased.  A  "square  meal,"  as,  for  instance,  a  Norwegian 
breakfast,  is  something  like  the  following:  Coffee  (admirable 
of  its  kind  throughout  all  Scandinavia),  hot  bread,  ham  eaten 
raw,  fish,  such  as  salmon,  fresh,  kippered,  and  smoked,  herring, 
raw  and  salted,  fresh  esro-s,  boiled  lobster,  with  a  substantial 
beefsteak.  We  all  become  more  or  less  familiar,  too,  with  the 
cucumber,  which  is  eaten  prepared  somewhat  like  sourkrout, 
tasting   acid  yet  refreshing.      We  delight  most  especially  in  a 


...  DENMARK,   NORWAY,    AND   SWEDEN. 

small,  wild  strawberry,  which  is  of  exquisite  flavor.  One  thing 
we  are  being-  accustomed  to  in  this  northern  world  is  that 
preparation  one  makes  in  the  way  of  a  lunch  immediately 
before  dinner.  Prior  to  the  repas  de  ceremonie  in  the  room 
where  guests  are  received,  a  good-sized  table  is  spread  covered 
with  various  salt  preparations,  and  with  bits  of  brown  bread. 
It  is  expected  that  the  appetite  shall  be  whetted  in  this  way, 
and  further  stimulated  by  a  certain  number  of  glasses  of  cor- 
dial or  corn  brandy.  This  latter  fluid  is  of  the  strongest 
character,  and  aquavit,  as  it  is  called,  when  imbibed  by  one 
unaccustomed  to  such  things,  quite  takes  your  breath  away. 
It  is  understood  that  such  fiery  fluids  may  be  adapted  to  the 
excessive  cold  of  Norway,  but  in  July  weather,  which  even  so 
far  north  is  really  hot  at  times,  most  of  the  American  party 
partook  of  this  corn  brandy  with  extreme  moderation.  The 
shops  in  Christiania  are  excellent,  and  somewhat  peculiar  in 
the  way  of  signs.  Norsemen  are  essentially  practical,  and 
there  can  be  no  possible  mistakes  made.  There  is  no  chance 
of  error  in  selecting  the  shop  where  you  want  to  buy,  for  the 
hardware  man  hangs  outside  of  his  place  a  pair  of  tongs  or  a 
shovel,  while  the  glove-maker  exhibits  a  glove  of  preposterous 
size.  We  note  a  certain  independence  about  these  trades- 
people. You  are  greeted  in  a  quiet  but  not  obsequious  way. 
These  people  do  not  cringe  in  order  to  obtain  your  custom. 
It  is  not  bluntness,  only  the  Norseman  will  assert  on  all  occa- 
sions his  perfect  independence,  and  I  must  say  I  rather  like  it. 
Still  with  all  this  a  certain  amount  of  respect  is  exacted  be- 
tween all  ranks.  If  you  enter  a  shop,  no  matter  how  humble  be 
the  wares  or  the  condition  of  the  seller,  you  are  expected  to 
remove  your  hat,  otherwise  you  would  be  set  down  as  a  rude 
boor.  People  in  Christiania  live,  as  they  do  in  many  European 
towns,  in  flats,  and  their  dwellings  are  large  and  spacious. 
Houses  have  a  porte-cochere,  similar  to  those  in  Paris,  which 
leads  to  a  semicircular  yard  around  which  the  building  stands. 
Christiania  in  midsummer  must  differ  essentially  from  the  same 
city  in  winter.  We  notice  the  preparations  in  the  houses  for 
keeping  the  inmates  warm.     These  consist  of  huge  porcelain 


CARL  JOHAN  GARDEN. 


445 


stoves  in  which  pine  and  birch  wood  are  burned.  There  might 
be  a  great  chance  for  some  clever  countryman  of  ours  to  show 
the  Norseman  how  to  keep  warm  with  less  expense  and  trouble. 
We  ask  some  of  our  Norse  friends  about  the  climate  of  Chris- 
tiania,  and  they  tell  us  that  though  in  the  latitude  of  Iceland,  as 
the  city  is  on  the 
water,  it  is  no- 
thinglike as  cold 
as  it  is  one  hun- 
dred miles  in 
the  interior. 
Just  like  Ham- 
burg, Christi- 
ania  has  suffer- 
ed a  n  d  been 
benefited  by 
fires.  Formerly 
the  majority  of 
the  houses  were 
of  wood,  but  to- 
day no  n  e  w 
building  can  be 
erected  which 
is  not  of  stone. 
Certainly  the 
fin  est  of  the 
public  buildings 
is  the  royal 
palace,  which 
stands  on  a 
slight  elevation 

at  the  west  end  of  the  city.  Not  far  from  the  palace  is  the 
Carl  Johan  Garden.  Here  is  the  university  and  the  public 
library.  I  have  again  and  again  commented  upon  the  beau- 
tiful views  one  gains  from  various  standpoints  in  Christiania. 
Standing  right  in  front  of  the  royal  palace  the  mountain  hills 
of  Ecrebero;  loom   in   the   distance,   while  country   houses,   ele- 


DEER    CAkbE.N — MulKHULM. 


446 


DENMARK,   NORWAY,    AND   SWEDEN. 


gantly  perched  on  the  hilltops,  are  reflected  in  the  tranquil 
fjord.  Of  course  we  have  the  entree  of  the  royal  palace,  but 
really  regal  residences  have  not  much  of  interest  to  us.  When 
you  say  that  one  room  is  decorated  in  the  Renaissance  style, 
and  another  in  the  Byzantine,  you  have  fully  described  it. 
The  university  has  more  claim  to  our  attention  with  its  ele- 
gantly designed  portal  crowned  by  the  Minerva.  The  zoolo- 
gical museum  within  the  university  is  of  the  most  interesting 
character.  In  some  respects  the  animals  of  Northern  Europe 
and  North  America  run  close  together  as  to  form,  and  we 
are  pleased  to  find  some  quite  familiar  types.  The  attention 
paid  to  instruction  in  both  Norway  and  Sweden  is  most  marked, 
and  people  who  cannot  read  or  write  are  very  rare.  Perhaps 
of  many  lovely  spots  around  Christiania  we  derived  the  most 
pleasure  from  a  visit  to  Oscarshal,  or  Oscar's  Hall.  This  de- 
lightful retreat,  which  is  a  royal  country-seat,  is  situated  on  a  bold 
peninsula  called  Ladegardsoen,  about  a  couple  of  miles  from 
Christiania.  How  long  noble  Norsemen  and  women  have  held 
their  galas  here  no  historian  can  say,  but  King  Hacon  held 
revels  here  untold  centuries  ago.  The  palace  has  been  rebuilt 
within  the  last  thirty  years,  and  is  in  a  handsome  Anglo-Gothic 
style.  There  were  two  artistic  decorations  which  struck  us  :  a 
dining  room  painted  by  a  Norwegian  artist  representing  scenes 
of  Norwegian  peasant  life,  and  a  drawing  room  ornamented 
with  the  medallions  of  great  Norwegian  statesmen.  Grand 
historical  names  of  old  times,  which  one  only  gets  a  glimpse  of 
in  old  chronicles,  come  vividly  out  almost  into  present  life  in 
Norway.  The  Harolds,  the  Olafs,  the  Kin"-  Sverres,  which 
seem  mere  poetical  fictions,  are  here  actual  realities.  Now  as 
things  go  in  Europe,  Christiania  is  not  an  old  town  ;  it  may 
be  called,  in  fact,  a  city  of  yesterday,  for  it  was  founded 
in  1624  by  King  Christian  IV.  This  speaks  well  of  the 
energy  of  these  northern  men,  and  shows  that  the  charac- 
ter of  a  famous  people  does  not  degenerate  in  time.  YVe 
as  Americans  may  owe  a  great  deal  of  our  energy  and  freedom 
to  the  old  Norse  stock,  whose  blood  was  mingled  with  the 
Saxon.      These  bold   rovers,  who  manned  their  war  ships  and 


HISTORICAL   REMINISCENCES.  447 

drove  out  to  sea,  passed  over  to  Iceland,  and  thence  most  cer- 
tainly sailed  over  to  America,  anticipating  Christopher  Colum- 
bus. The)-  had  no  geographical  data  to  go  upon  ;  the  finding 
of  America  was  no  essay  founded  upon  scientific  probability. 
Endowed  with  the  spirit  of  freedom,  burning  for  adventure, 
they  plunged  into  unknown  seas — the  impossible  only  urged 
them  on.  It  is  a  very  fine  point  to  determine  exactly  what  is 
an  invader  or  a  colonizer.  Both  terms  are  applicable  to  one 
and  the  same  people.  It  is  true  the  old  Norseman  made  little 
pother  about  it.  He  went  about  his  business  with  his  sword, 
spear,  and  battle-axe,  and  slew  right  and  left.  He  drove  the 
weaker  Gaul  from  off  the  coast  of  France,  and  founded  a  great 
dynasty  there,  and  in  time  the  descendants  of  these  Norsemen, 
called  Normans,  went  over  and  conquered  England.  They 
were  rude  times,  rough  ones,  and  we  to-day  who  philosophize 
over  them  think  that  such  thing's  can  never  occur  again,  while 
we  really  in  our  blindness  forget  that  just  such  events   are  hap- 

'pening  to-day,  and  will  happen  over  and  over  again  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world  which  is  yet  unwritten.  It  is  ever  the  weaker 
race  which  goes  to  the  wall.  Norway,  however,  in  her  later 
history,  has  represented  many  vicissitudes  of  fortune.  Once  all 
three  kingdoms,  Sweden,  Norway,  and  Denmark,  were  united 
under  one  rule,  in  the  fourteenth  century  a  king  of  Norway 
having  married  a  Danish  princess.  After  her  death,  for  she 
reigned  in  her  time,  came  a  weak  succession.  These  were 
kings  who  had  no  Scandinavian  feeling,  and  oppressed  the  peo- 
ple. It  was  the  great  Gustavus  Vasa,  a  fugitive  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Dalecarlia,  who  roused  the  people  of  Sweden  from 
their  apathy,  gained  the  victory,  and  was  elected  sovereign. 
The  history  of  Sweden  was  then  blended  with  that  of  Norway. 

.Norway  was  Danish  until  1S14.  Now  the  history  of  the  pre- 
sent sovereign  of  Norway  and  Sweden  is  a  most  remarkable 
one.  Strange  to  say,  it  is  the  last  relic  of  Napoleonism  in 
Europe.  In  1809,  Gustavus  IV.,  King  of  Sweden,  abdicated, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Carl  XIII.  This  king  was  childless,  and 
it  became  necessary  to  choose  another  sovereign  for  the  Swedish 
throne.      Whether  by  the   secret   influence  of  Napoleon  or  not, 


448 


DENMARK,    NORWAY,    AXD   SUEDEX. 


Bernadotte,  a  field  marshal  of  France,  and  Prince  of  Ponte- 
corvo,  was  elected.  He  was  made  crown  prince,  and  adopted 
Lutheranism.  Now,  there  was  no  greater  mistake  made  by  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  than  when  he  supposed  that  his  old  lieu- 
tenant Bernadotte  would  always  remain  stanch  to  the  French 
side.  When  war  broke  out  between  France  and  Russia,  this 
French  crown  prince  and  the  Russian  emperor  met  at  Abo,  in 
Finland,   where  it  was  agreed,    that  if   Sweden  joined   Russia 


ROYAL   PALACE — CHRISTIANIA, 


against  France,  Norway  should  be  detached  from  Denmark 
and  united  to  Sweden.  Of  course,  if  in  the  issue  of  events 
the  tide  of  circumstances  had  turned  against  Russia,  Bernadotte 
would  have  been  deposed.  But  Moscow,  and  the  repulse  of  the 
French  in  Russia,  built  up  the  power  of  Bernadotte.  By  one 
of  those  strange  freaks  of  fortune,  in  that  strange  game  of 
chance  which  men  of  genius  play,  it  was  this  French  Swede 
who  held  the  winning  cards.  But  still  in  1814,  Norway  was 
loath  to  take  this  newly-made  Swedish  prince  as  sovereign.  It 
was  a  Swedish  army  commanded  by  the  Frenchman,  who,  being 


NORWEGIAN    VEHICLES.  .  ._ 

44y 

a  good  soldier,  was  ready  to  enforce  his  claims.  A  compro- 
mise was  made,  by  which  Carl  XIII.  of  Sweden  was  accepted 
as  sovereign,  and  at  his  death,  in  1S18,  Bernadotte  reigned  in 
his  stead  as  Carl  XIV.  There  was  great  courage  and  clever- 
ness about  this  French  lawyer,  for  to  that  profession  was  Ber- 
nadotte bred,  and  possibly  it  was  all  for  the  best  that  Carl  XIV. 
reigned  over  both  countries,  for  when  he  died  in  i  S44  he  was 
fairly  beloved,  and  his  memory  is  still  reverenced  by  the  people. 
This  historical  reminiscence  becomes  somewhat  necessary,  as 
it  explains  how  a  king  may  to-day  rule  over  two  countries 
which,  though  divided  by  only  an  imaginary  line,  still  like  to  be 
thought  in  a  certain  measure  distinct.  There  are  main'  curi- 
ous political  surmises  which  might  be  of  interest  if  detailed 
here.  Strange  to  say,  the  Norwegian  seems  to  cherish  very 
great  love  for  Denmark,  and  be  rather  indifferent  to  Sweden. 
What  is  very  certain  is  this,  that  in  the  union  of  these  two 
countries  there  is  strength,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  time 
the  wisdom  of  the  present  consolidation  may  be  evident  to  both 
Norwegian  and  Swede. 

An  excursion  has  been  planned  for  us,  and  we  are  to  have 
a  taste  of  Norwegian  traveling.  Now  we  make  our  first  ac- 
quaintance with  those  two  methods  of  locomotion  known  in  Nor- 
way, the  two  vehicles  called  the  karjoler  and  the  stolkja^rrer. 
Though  the  best  turnouts  had  been  provided  for  us,  still  they 
were  of  a  peculiar  rattle-trap  appearance.  The  karjoler  may 
be  described  as  a  low  gig,  a  kind  of  clumsy  sulky,  holding  one 
person  ;  it  has  shafts  made  of  good  elastic  wood,  and  the  weight 
of  the  traveler  is  supported  on  the  axletree  and  the  horse's 
neck.  I  call  it  a  horse  through  courtesy,  though  it  is  a  pony, 
and  a  very  small  one  at  that.  Your  luggage,  which  must  not  be 
large  (a  Saratoga  trunk  would  be  an  impossibility),  is  lashed  on 
a  frame  on  the  axletree,  and  perched  on  that,  clinging  there  for 
dear  life,  is  a  small  boy,  or  sometimes  a  white-haired,  blue-eyed 
little  girl.  This  appendage  does  not  pretend  to  drive  you,  but 
has  the  whole  concern  in  his  or  her  safe  keeping.  Having  thus 
described  the  Norwegian  go-cart,  I  have  to  say  that  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  American  buggy,  it  is  the  most  comfortable  of  all 
?9 


45° 


DENMARK,    NORWAY,    AND   SWEDEN. 


vehicles.  It  must  have  been  invented  for  the  peculiarities  of 
the  country.  In  any  other  kind  of  a  drag  it  would  have  been 
impossible  to  scale  the  high,  rough,  rocky  hillsides,  or  to  go 
down  into  the  valleys.  It  is  delightful  to  exercise  one's  Jehu- 
like propensities,  and  to  guide  the  willing  little  steeds.  These 
sturdy  little  brutes  were  as  tractable  as  possible,  good-tempered, 
intelligent,  and  ambitious.  Perhaps  the  choice  ponies  of  Nor- 
way had  been  selected  for  us.  Now  as  to  the  other  conveyance, 
the  stolkjaerrer,   or  seat-cart.      Some  of  the  party  (for  we  had 

been  joined  by 
a  number  of 
American 
friends  w  h  o 
had  come  a 
long  way  out 
of  their  road 
to  pay  their 
respects  to  the 
General)  de- 
cided to  try 
the  seat-cart. 
I  do  not  think 
they  will  ever 
make  another 
essay  of    that 

character.  They  declared  that  after  the  first  mile  they  expected 
to  be  shaken  into  fragments.  Means  of  travel  by  these  simple 
carriages  are,  of  course,  necessary  in  Norway  ;  perhaps  journeys 
could  not  be  undertaken  in  any  other  way.  In  winter,  rail- 
roads in  certain  districts  would  be  difficult  to  manage,  and 
then  again  the  business  would  be  limited.  Now  let  me  return 
to  the  brave  little  black  pony  who  is  working  so  gamely  in 
my  Norwegian  gig.  I  do  not  think  he  is  fourteen  hands  high. 
He  has  a  pretty  head  and  arched  neck,  a  round  body,  rather 
clean  le^s,  with  plenty  of  hair  around  his  hoofs,  and  a  nimble 
pair  of  heels.  He  does  not  stop  at  a  good  hillside,  but  ambles 
gayly  to  the  very  top,  and  goes  down  hill  rather  faster  than  I  like. 


sMggom 


1  HE    KAKJOLEK. 


HAR  VESTING   IN  NOR  WAY.  ,  -  I 

I  try  to  make  the  blue-eyed  boy,  who  is  hanging  on  behind  me, 
understand  my  question,  "Does  the  pony  ever  fall?"  He  has 
picked  up  a  smatter  of  English,  and  he  makes  me  understand 
"that  such  a  thing  as  a  horse's  stumbling  in  Norway  never 
happens."  What  a  delightful  polo  pony  he  would  make,  if  only 
a  little  lighter.  I  am  told  that  with  a  good  horse  I  can  go 
on  at  this  pleasant  speed  forty  miles  a  day ;  that  if  not  too 
hilly,  these  little  steeds  will  accomplish  six  miles  an  hour,  and  on 
a  level  bit  of  road,  ten  miles.  The  urchin  seemed  to  love  his 
horse,  and  was  delighted  when  I  praised  him.  I  am  more  or 
less  watchful  as  I  go  down  some  of  the  steep  hills,  but  it  is 
rather  in  regard  to  the  harness  than  the  horse.  There  are  no 
traces  that  I  can  see,  but  to  the  collar  there  are  iron  rings 
which  are  attached  to  the  shafts.  I  suppose  it  is  all  right, 
though  I  have  been  bred  into  a  sincere  and  lasting  belief  in  a 
breeching  for  down-hill  work.  Occasionally  we  have  a  spurt 
with  one  or  another  of  the  party  on  the  road,  and  I  am  fortu- 
nate in  having:  the  Dexter  of  Norwegian  horses.  I  learn  how 
to  stop  the  pony  at  a  word,  the  Norse  whoa  being  "  bur-r-r." 
If  at  the  start  I  was  a  little  nervous,  I  am  now  much  more 
anxious  about  the  little  towhead  boy,  for  I  am  afraid  every 
moment  that  he  will  go  spinning  in  the  air.  Not  a  bit  of  it. 
He  hangs  on  like  a  fly,  and  has  powers  of  adhesion  which  are 
marvelous.  We  are  passing  through  a  country  where  they  are 
making  hay.  It  smells  sweet  and  fragrant.  Strong  men  and 
women — and  there  are  more  women  than  men — are  cutting 
grass  with  scythes  and  tossing  it  up  with  their  rakes.  We  are 
not  (so  our  guide  tells  us)  far  enough  north  to  see  how  they  cure 
their  crops  in  the  true  Norwegian  agricultural  way,  hanging  the 
hay,  oats,  or  barley  on  stakes  about  six  feet  high.  The  grass 
is  not  very  tall,  and  there  would  be  more  weight  of  fodder  in 
one  American  acre  than  in  ten  Norwegian  ones,  and  still  this 
crop  is  considered  luxuriant  when  compared  with  the  produce 
of  the  fields  but  a  short  distance  north  of  us.  Can  I  describe 
the  beauties  of  the  scenery  ?  I  look  up  a  high  mountain-side, 
bold  and  inaccessible,  and  see  where  vegetation  ceases.  It  is 
warm  and  pleasant  through  the  narrow  road  I  am  driving;   but 


»c2  DENMARK,    NORWAY,    AND   SWEDEN. 

away  above  there — it  must  be  always  winter.  There  is  not 
even  a  tree  there,  only  stunted  shrubs.  But  lower  down  there 
is  a  fringe  of  dark  fir  trees,  and  through  it  there  tumbles  a 
cascade  which  like  a  snow-white  ribbon  flutters  along:  the 
mountain  side.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  magnificence  of  these 
mountain  gorges.  Sometimes  they  are  barely  wide  enough  for 
our  karjoler  to  pass  through,  then  they  expand  and  are  spacious 
enough  to  hold  a  squadron  of  cavalry-  On  all  sides  we  hear 
the  pleasant  noise  of  falling  waters,  and  as  we  pass  the  dark 
forests  we  listen  to  the  singing  of  the  wind  through  the  high 
pines.  It  is  not  only  the  beauties  of  this  most  picturesque 
country  that  we  see,  but  we  watch  the  bright,  flashing  waters 
of  the  North  Sea  which  have  stolen  throuo-h  the  blue  mountains 
far  into  the  land.  Here  and  there  are  fishing  craft  skimming 
over  the  surface.  Evidently  the  reputation  of  the  leader  of 
our  party  has  been  noised  about  among  this  simple  folk,  for 
in  the  villages  we  pass  through  the  people  are  out  en  masse, 
dressed  in  quaintly  fashioned  costume.  There  are  so  many 
Norsemen  and  Swedes  in  the  United  States  who  have  done 
well,  who  have  shown  such  thrift  and  gained  such  high  posi- 
tions, that  to  those  who  remain  at  home  the  United  States  is 
as  an  El  Dorado.  I  am  struck  by  the  happy,  healthy  look 
of  the  peasant  folk,  and  try  to  note  the  picturesque  dress  of 
some  of  the  Norwegian  girls.  One  came  tripping  down  the 
mountain  side  offering;  us  a  basket  of  mountain  strawberries. 
Her  skirt  was  of  a  dark  olive-green  cloth,  and  the  bodice  em- 
broidered with  bright  golden  flowers.  On  her  he-ad  she  wore 
something  like  a  Scotch  bonnet  trimmed  with  silver  lace.  She 
also  wore  a  stomacher  of  some  bright  red  material,  on  which 
hung  silver  ornaments,  which  clattered  as  she  walked.  There 
were  long  silver  earrings  in  her  ears,  neat  blue  stockings  en- 
cased her  shapely  legs,  and  on  her  feet  were  well-made  round- 
pointed  shoes,  with  a  pair  of  silver  buckles  which  looked  as  if 
they  weighed  a  pound.  Our  guide  informed  us  that  in  the 
General's  honor  a  gala  dress  had  been  put  on.  As  to  the  men, 
I  never  saw  such  waistcoats.  They  were  cut  precisely  like 
those  worn   in  the  last  century,  a  coat  and  waistcoat  in  fact  all 


CHURCHES  A.XP    GRAVES. 


453 


in  one  piece.  Red  caps  seemed  to  be  the  ordinary  head  gear. 
Short  breeches  and  stockings  were  universal.  I  never  saw  more 
honest,  sturdy  faces.  Our  road  led  by  a  village  church.  It 
was  of  fair  size  with  nave  and  chancel.  It  was  built  of  wood, 
not  thin  planks  and  scantlings  as  with  us  in  America,  but  con- 
structed of  good,  solid,  massive  beams.  How  long  it  had  been 
built  we  could  not  find  out.  It  was  weather-stained  with  time. 
The  roof  was  high- pointed  and  covered  with  shingles.  Roofs 
in  Norway  have  to  be 
high  and  of  a  sharp  an- 
gle, otherwise  they  could 
not  withstand  the  heavy 
weight  of  s  n  o  w  which 
falls  throusfh  the  loner 
winter.  On  top  of  the 
church  swung  the  typical 
cock  which  had  veered  in 
the  gale  for  many  a  hun- 
dred years.  Some  of  us 
halted  for  a  little  while 
and  entered  the  church- 
yard. Here  were  the  last 
mortal  remains  of  honest 
Norwegian  men  and  wo- 
men. These  graves  were 
not  like  ours,  oblong 
mounds  of  turf,  but  were 
raised  tombs  with  an  iron 
r  a  i  1  i  n  g.  There  was  a 
sweet  touch  of  summer  around  these  silent  graves,  for  blue 
gentianellas  and  lilies  of  the  valley  were  growing  in  all  luxuri- 
ance; even  a  rose  gave  out  its  pleasant  perfume.  There  seems 
to  be  great  respect  paid  by  the  Norseman  to  the  last  resting 
place  of  his  race.  The  memory  of  the  dead  is  sincerely  cher- 
ished. Our  informant  tells  us  that  reunions  are  sometimes 
held  by  members  of  a  family  in  the  grave-yards  long  after  the 
decease    of  a    relative.      It   is    said   that   much   of   that   family 


PEASAJTC    GIR1 


454 


DENMARK,   NORWAY,   AW   SWEDEN. 


affection,  that  patriotism,  that  attachment  the  Norwegian  pea- 
sant has  for  his  country  throughout  all  his  wanderings,  may 
be  traced  to  this  respect  they  pay  to  their  graves.  Just  as 
we  were  remounting  our  vehicles,  our  skyds  gut,  or  postboy, 
urging  departure,  the  pleasant  chimes  of  the  bells  in  the  church 
steeple  were  heard.  It  might  have  been  only  the  hour  that  was 
told,  or  some  church  service  that  was  indicated,  but  instantly 
the  whole  group  of  peasants  removed  their  hats  and  caps  and 
bowed.  It  was  a  kind  of  reverential  act,  a  return  of  salutation 
to  the  old  church.  We  are  interested  in  the  history  of  these 
peasants,  and  find  that  they  have  certain  peculiarities  which 
are  not  to  be  found  elsewhere.  There  never  has  been  anything 
approaching  to  feudalism  in  this  Scandinavian  country.  A  man 
has  always  asserted  his  rights,  and  fought  for  them.  He  never 
owed  allegiance  to  a  petty  chief.  A  Norwegian  gentleman,  who 
has  acted  as  our  guide,  explains  what  is  meant  by  a  bonder: 
"  You  might  go,"  he  tells  us,  "  into  that  rather  modest-looking 
house  yonder  on  the  hill — I  have  been  there  before — and  if  you 
asked  the  owner  who  he  was  or  what  was  his  origin,  he  would 
tell  you  that  some  old  king  of  Norway  was  his  ancestor. 
The  man  is  perfectly  truthful.  He  can  trace  his  lineage  back 
maybe  a  thousand  or  twelve  hundred  years.  The  English  pride 
themselves  on  their  names,  and  date  the  birth  of  their  noble  fami- 
lies to  the  Norman  Conquest.  He  can  date  his  to  the  time 
of  Alfred.  We  could  show  you  bonders,  peasants,  who  have 
an  absolute  descent  much  farther  back  than  the  tenth  century. 
These  bonders  form  a  distinctive  class.  They  have  an  intense 
love  for  country,  and  are  mostly  comfortably  off.  They  despise 
all  show  and  parade,  and  live  simply  and  unostentatiously. 
They  are  always  fairly  educated,  and  are  representative  men. 
They  occupy  a  special  position,  which  is  difficult  to  explain. 
In  your  English  sense  they  belong  to  the  yeoman  class  rather 
than  to  the  gentry.  They  are  exceedingly  courteous,  and  will 
give  you  their  hospitality  without  stint.  If  they  have  any  pride 
of  race,  they  never  show  it,  but  still  they  must  remember  the 
grand  old  stock  from  which  they  sprang.  I  think,"  concluded 
our   informant,    "  that  they  are  quite  distinguishable,  as  a  class, 


THE    LAPPS.  ^rr 

by  their   line    manly  appearance,    for    they   always   hold    their 
heads  high,  and  stoop  to  no  man." 

Our  journey  into  the  interior  is  necessarily  restricted  as  to 
time.  It  would  have  delighted  the  General  if  we  could  have 
pushed  still  farther  north.  Trondjhem  and  Christiansund  were 
even  mentioned,  but  time  is  fleeting,  and  our  aspiration  to  pay 
a  visit  to  the  town  nearest  to  the  pole  is  frustrated.  The  fact 
is  we  are  all  more  or  less  possessed  with  an  intense  desire 
of  seeing  a  Lapp,  or  riding  behind  a  reindeer.  As  to  the 
first,  we  get  a  sight  of  these  strange  men  of  the  North,  and  as  to 
the  reindeer,  our  curiosity  is  readily  satisfied,  for  we  find  he 
resembles  very  much  our  caribou.  In  response  to  our  inquiries 
in  regard  to  the  reindeer,  we  find  that  he  is  difficult  to  keep, 
even  as  far  south  or  north  (whichever  you  please)  as  Chris- 
tiania.  We  are  shown  some  of  the  deer,  who  are  apparently 
gentle  to  those  who  care  for  them,  but  who  resent  any  familiarity 
on  our  part.  Like  our  caribou,  the  reindeer  will  not  thrive 
where  the  reindeer  moss  is  not  found  in  abundance.  How 
wonderful  it  is  when  we  think  that  this  particular  animal  will 
only  exist  where  a  special  food  is  found.  Some  of  us  indulge 
in  a  glass  of  reindeer  milk,  and  find  it  sweet  and  rich,  but 
the  cheeses  are  terrible  inflictions.  As  to  the  Lapps,  we  saw 
some  nomads  in  the  more  southern  country.  They  were  not  a 
prepossessing  people.  The  term  Lapp  they  do  not  understand; 
it  may  possibly  be  Swedish,  but  it  is  not  Norse.  In  appear- 
ance and  color,  save  that  they  are  stunted,  they  resemble  some- 
what our  Indians,  but  I  did  not  think  their  features  were  like 
the  Esquimaux.  They  are  a  pastoral  people,  but  necessity  has 
forced  some  of  them  to  become  fishermen.  The  Lapp  is  said 
to  be  honest,  fairly  industrious,  and  very  superstitious,  and  is 
devotedly  fond  of  tobacco  and  corn  brandy.  Your  Lapp  not 
only  smokes  all  the  time,  but  absolutely  chews  tobacco  while 
he  smokes.  He  is  not  a  frequent  inmate  of  the  large  towns 
of  Lower  Denmark,  but  in  the  north  he  seems  of  late  to  take 
to  the  towns,  where  he  finds  employment  as  a  fisherman.  We 
even  find  some  few  Lapps  in  Christiania.  No  one  can  describe 
Norway  or  its   people   without    paying  some   attention  to  her 


456 


DENMARK',    NORWAY,   AND   SWEDEN 


great  fishing-  interests.  Where  land  is  so  barren,  and  climate  so 
ungrateful,  the  catching  of  fish  is  a  matter  of  paramount  impor- 
tance. The  hardy  Norse  mariners,  seeking  the  harvest  of  the 
seas,  sail  away  up  to  the  north,  and  the  cod  and  herring  of 
the  Lofoden  Islands,  when  cured  and  prepared  by  them,  find  a 


NORWEGIAN    IJUIiU. 


market  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  Fish  are  to  the  Norseman 
not  only  food  for  himself  but  for  his  cattle.  It  often  happens, 
when  an  earlv  frost  comes,  and  kills  the  scanty  grass,  and 
there  is  no  hay  for  horse  or  cow,  that  these  animals  become 
ichthyophagous,  and  exist  on  fish.  All  along  the  coast,  perched 
•on  every  eminence,  may  be  seen  either  the  hut  of  the  fisherman 
or  a  watch  tower,  so  that   the   movements  of  the   fish  as  they 


NORWEGL  IN  SCENER  V.  .  e, 

45/ 

come  into  the  shores  can  be  discovered.  The  hardihood  and 
daring  of  these  fishermen  are  extreme.  They  laugh  at  wind  or 
weather.  We  are  well  acquainted  with  this  brave  race  in  the 
United  States,  for  the  fishing  fleet  of  Gloucester  carries  out 
many  a  Norseman  who  exercises  in  American  waters  the 
calling  acquired  in  the  Northern  Ocean.  In  some  respects  this 
northern  coast  is  a  dangerous  one,  though  there  are  so  many 
fjords  and  islands  that  shelter  is  often  found.  Still  one  shivers 
when  the  thought  comes  of  men  exposed  to  these  terrible  north- 
ern sfales,  and  the  horrors  of  the  lone  niehts. 

Of  course  Norway  is  by  no  means  the  terra  incognita  of  forty 
years  ago.  Besides  the  magnificence  of  its  scenery,  it  affords 
great  attraction  to  the  sportsman.  In  our  short  excursion  into 
the  country  we  met  numerous  parties  of  English  gentlemen  in- 
tent on  salmon  fishing.  In  fact,  numerous  invitations  were  ex- 
tended to  the  General  that  he  should  try  his  hand  with  rod  and 
fly  in  some  brawling  Norwegian  stream.  But  fishing  is  hardly 
among  the  General's  accomplishments.  We  are  told  by  an 
Englishman  that  although  the  sport  is  pleasant  enough,  the 
great  drawback  are  the  mosquitoes,  which  are  on  a  par,  as  to 
quantity  and  aggressiveness,  with  the  insect  found  in  the 
United  States.  We  spent  a  few  days  most  pleasantly  in  our 
excursion,  having  seen  country  life  in  Norway  under  peculiar 
advantages.  On  our  return  to  Christiania,  regal  courtesies 
were  offered  by  his  majesty  the  King,  and  were  accepted 
by  the  General.  Our  stay  in  the  capital  of  Norway  was  now 
drawing  to  a  close.  It  is  on  our  programme  that  we  are  to 
reach  Stockholm  on  the  24th  of  July.  We  bid  a  good-by 
to  our  many  Norwegian  friends,  and  the  same  hearty  feel- 
ing which  was  extended  to  the  General  on  his  arrival  at 
Christiania  is  repeated,  only  it  is  to  wish  him  a  good-by.  We 
take  rail  from  Christiania  by  Kingsringer  to  Stockholm.  The 
country  we  pass  through  does  not  present  much  beauty.  The 
soil  seemed  poor,  and  the  crops  light,  but  even  such  scanty 
harvest  as  the  ground  gives  is  eagerly  sought  atter.  Occa- 
sionally we  pass  near  a  beautiful  lake,  all  bordered  by  dark 
pines,  and  we  have  glimpses  of  mountain  ranges  behind.      What 


453 


DENMARK,   NORWAY,    AND   SWEDEN. 


does  strike  us,  as  practical  Americans,  is  that  every  here  and 
there  we  pass  by  large  factories  with  tall  chimneys,  or  see  in 
the  distance  the  smoke  rising  up  from  the  iron  works,  and  we 
know  that  we  are  in  Sweden,  where  the  manufacturing  interests 
are  of  the  most  promising  character.  The  railroad  is  an  admi- 
rable one,  and  the  carriages  perfectly  luxurious.  Advantage  has 
been  taken  of  a  valley  which  runs  parallel  with  the  Vrangs  Elv, 
a  good-sized  Swedish  river,  to  make  a  portion  of  the  route  be- 
tween Norway  and  Sweden.  If  the  railroad  be  slow  as  to  time, 
we  have  a  better  opportunity  of  judging  of  the  character  of  the 
country.  We  therefore  do  not  complain,  but  rather  enjoy  the 
long  stoppages  at  by-stations.  As  usual,  it  is  quite  well  known 
that  General  Grant  is  on  the  train.  Accordingly  all  the  towns 
and  villages  we  pass  through  are  made  resplendent  with  tri- 
umphal arches  and  flags.  The  depots  are  thronged  with  pea- 
sants, who  cry  welcome,  and  cheer  the  General.  It  is  fortunate 
perhaps  that  the  Ex-President  is  not  polyglot,  or  his  well- 
known  speech-making  inclinations  would  have  been  taxed  to 
the  utmost.  Occasionally  as  these  complimentary  words  are 
addressed  to  him,  in  a  language  which  he  cannot  understand, 
I  think  I  perceive  a  slight  smile  illumine  his  generally  im- 
movable features.  I  am  led  to  believe  he  is  congratulating 
himself  that  a  bow  or  so  on  his  part  answers  all  purposes. 
We  find,  however,  that  both  in  Norway  and  Sweden  many 
languages  are  spoken.  It  is  hard  to  find  an  educated  Nor- 
wegian or  Swede  who  does  not  speak  English,  French,  or 
German.  There  are  certain  words  identical  in  Norse  and 
English,  and  sometimes  we  who  only  speak  our  mother  tongue 
find  we  can  manage  a  little  Norse.  We  travel  on  into  the  lone 
twilight,  which  is  so  beautiful  in  this  northern  land,  and  as 
we  near  Stockholm,  the  country  changes,  and  is  more  broken. 
It  is  a  lake  country  evidently,  for  we  pass  near  broad  expanses 
of  beautiful  water.  That  superb  grandeur,  that  weird  majesty 
of  nature  which  is  so  imposing  in  Norway,  no  longer  strikes 
us.  The  journey  is  rather  a  long  one,  and  we  are  glad  when 
we  find  ourselves  within  the  good  city  of  Stockholm. 

The    impression   Stockholm  made   on   us  was  different  from 


STOCKHOLM  A.XD    VENICE. 


459 


that  of  any  other  city  of  the  North  we  had  yet  visited.  In  the 
construction  of  its  houses  it  has  a  style  of  its  own  which  is  de- 
cidedly original,  although  it  resembles  the  French.  There  is  a 
grand  palace  too,  which  is  certainly  the  equal  of  any  we  have 
seen  in  either  France  or  Germany.  The  city,  under  the  warm- 
ing influence  of  a  July  sun,  seemed  to  combine  the  art   inspira- 


tion of  both  the  North  and 
the  South.  It  is  evidently  a 
gay  city,  for  I  see  the  streets 
crowded  with  well  -  dressed 
people.  There  is  a  certain 
quaintness  about  the  country 
people  which  is  very  attrac- 
tive. I  am  informed  that  Stockholm  is  the  "Venice  of  the 
North."  I  have  had  the  same  thing  told  me  of  other  Scandi- 
navian cities,  which  claim  a  similar  appellation.  I  discard  it 
entirely.  It  is  true  there  is  land  and  water  mixed,  but  it  is 
not  Venice.  Venice  brings  with  it  a  feeling  of  languor.  It 
recalls  a  period  of  decay,  which  not  one  of  these  towns  of 
the  North  ever  reminds  one   of.      Venice  would  not  be  Venice 


460 


DE.XM.1RK,   NORWAY,   AND   SWEDEN, 


if  there  was  the  least  bustle  about  it.  Stockholm  teems  with 
life.  People  seem  to  be  in  a  hurry — not  in  that  impetuous 
American  hurry  of  course — that  would  be  impossible — but  still 
there  is  at  least  a  briskness  which  is  pleasant  to  see.  I  under- 
stand though  that  if  Stockholm  has  charms  for  the  traveler  in 
summer,  it  is  in  winter  that  the  capital  of  Sweden  is  at  its  best. 
I  should  like  to  see  it  then,  when  sledges  drawn  by  prancing 
horses  flash  past  in   the   streets,  when  all  the  places  of  amuse- 


OSCAK    HALL. 


ment   are    in    full    blast.     We    are   all,  however,    pleased    with 
Stockholm  in  its  summer  guise. 

Now,  Sweden  has  reminiscences  of  the  past,  which  are  ever 
glorious,  and  she  cherishes  the  memory  of  Gustavus  Vasa  most 
especially.  We  have  no  great  love  for  relics,  still  we  all  felt  a 
desire  to  see  what  remained  of  this  great  Swedish  warrior  king. 
In  the  national  museum  of  Stockholm  are  preserved  all  that  re- 
mains of  Gustavus  and  Charles  XII.  In  this  collection  of  curi- 
osities, among  this  mass  of  royal  robes  faded  by  time,  which  be- 
longed   to   royal    nobodies,  are   the   blood-stained  clothes  great 


S  /  \  'EDISH  HER  OES. 


46  I 


Gustavus  wore  when  he  dropped  his  sword  from  his  hand  and 
died  for  religious  freedom  at  Lutzen.  There  they  are,  with  the 
blood  which  flowed  from  his  wounds  still  on  them.  The  old 
story  is,  that  on  the  morning  of  Lutzen  he  had  his  breastplate 
brought  him  by  a  page.  The  king  had  been  hurt  some  time 
before  at  Dirschau,  and  his  armor  was  painful  to  him,  and  he 
was  also  soldier  enough  to  foresee  how  little  iron  and  steel  could 
stand  before  powder  and  ball ;  so  he  said,  as  his  corselet  was 
presented  to  him,  "  I  will  have  none  of  it.  God  is  my  har- 
ness." All  that  is  left  of  Charles  XII.  lies  there  in  that  small 
glass  case.  When  Charles  stood  defiant  at  Frederickshall,  the 
fatal  ball  fired  went  first  through  his  hat,  and  then  into  his  brain. 
Here  is  the  hat,  with  the  ugly  hole  in  it.  As  the  kine  fell,  he 
automatically  raised  his  hand  to  his  head,  and  there  lies  the 
gauntlet  with  its  red  smear  on  it.  Voltaire  did  Charles  XII. 
justice  in  his  history,  and  his  story  is  well  known  ;  but  these 
relics  give  true  vividness  to  the  story.  This  museum  has  an 
endless  variety  of  collections.  Here  are  pictures,  engravings, 
and  cabinets  of  engraved  gems.  It  is  in  the  Ridderholm  Church, 
where  all  the  kings  and  queens  of  Sweden  lay  in  peace,  that 
these  two  heroes  were  buried.  In  the  aisles,  too,  repose  the 
field-marshals  Bunner  and  Torstenson,  comrades  of  Augustus. 
The  Ridderhause  claimed  our  attention.  Here  it  is  that  the 
Swedish  Diet  assembles.  The  walls  are  decorated  with  the 
escutcheons  of  the  noble  families  of  Sweden.  But  we  have  seen 
so  many  museums  and  collections  that  we  soon  tire  of  them.  I 
must  confess  that  I  like  to  stud)-  a  city  in  its  streets.  There  is 
full  opportunity  in  Stockholm.  Men  and  women  of  the  richer, 
better-to-do  class,  are  the  same  all  over  the  world,  that  is  on 
the  outside.  I  have  to  admire,  however,  the  beautiful  faces  of 
the  ladies,  and  their  graceful  walk.  I  even  think  it  peculiar  to 
Stockholm.  But  w  hat  most  delights  me  is  the  picturesque  cos- 
tume of  the  women  of  Dalecarlia.  They  wore  a  brown  or  green 
skirt  with  a  colored  border,  and  the  scarlet  jacket  had  snow- 
white  sleeves;  on  their  heads  they  carried  a  most  coquettish 
red  cap,  and  completed  their  costume  with  red  stockings,  and 
shoes  with  the  most  peculiar  heels.      They  added  to  their   at- 


462 


DENMARK,   NOR  WAV,    AND  SWEDEN. 


tractiveness  on  Sunday  by  wearing  a  bouquet,  a  large  one,  com- 
posed of  the  most  beautiful  wild-flowers.  Their  faces  some 
might  not  think  handsome,  but  they  were  hale  and  hearty,  and 
their  walk  and  carriage  were  superb.  These  peasants  leave  their 
homes  and  come  to  work  in  Stockholm.  The  work  they  do 
would  horrify  the  American  woman.  In  Switzerland,  a  pretty 
Swiss  maiden  may  occasionally  row  a  boat  across  some  blue 
lake  ;  but  in  Stockholm,  these  Dalecarlian  women  are  the  boat- 
women,  do  all  the  hard  work  and  help  the  masons,  for  they  mix 
mortar  and  carry  the  stones  and  bricks  and  beams  up  the  lad- 
ders. Being  very  frugal,  they  save  their  money,  and  go  back 
comparatively  rich  to  their  native  villages  in  the  mountains, 
where  they  find  husbands.  All  around  Stockholm  there  are 
beautiful  drives  and  glorious  views.  Among  the  most  pleasant 
places  to  visit  was  the  Deer  Park,  abounding  with  houses  of 
entertainment,  cafes,  and  theaters.  As  it  was  full  summer, 
everybody  was  enjoying  the  beauties  of  the  spot.  All  these 
northern  cities  are  so  wonderfully  situated  that  I  cannot  help 
extolling  them.  It  was  ever  delicfhtful  for  us  to  look  on  the 
broad  expanse  of  land  and  sea,  and  to  see  the  villas  which  dotted 
the  well-wooded  islands.  In  my  rapid  description  of  this  great 
city  of  the  North,  I  must  not  overlook  the  hospitalities  of  which 
the  General  was  the  recipient.  As  in  every  place  where  he  has 
been  so  far,  tokens  of  respect  and  honor  are  lavished  on  him. 
Of  course  America  is  perfectly  well  known  to  the  Swede,  for 
there  were  Swedish  colonies  in  America  coeval  with  those  of 
Holland  ;  still  of  late  years  the  bonds  of  friendship  between 
the  two  countries  have  been  much  more  closely  drawn,  as 
some  of  our  best  emigrants  came  from  these  rock-bound  shores. 
Some  of  us  have  pleasant  reminiscences  brought  to  our  mind  of 
home,  as  we  are  asked  if  we  know  such  and  such  a  Swedish 
merchant  who  is  doing  business  in  New  York,  Chicago,  or  San 
Francisco.  General  Grant  has  invitations  sent  him  to  visit  the 
Palace  of  Drottningholm,  which  is  the  most  superb  of  the  gala 
residences  of  the  Swedish  crown.  The  King  of  Sweden  has, 
with  the  greatest  kindness,  given  instructions  that  all  the  palaces 
should  be  opened  for  the  inspection  of  the  General.      I  think 


MUSIC. 


463 


the  Ex- President,  though  he  has  seen  innumerable  palaces, 
would  rather  go  from  the  garret  of  a  regal  residence  to  the  cel- 
lar than  see  a  review.  Somehow  I  fancy  the  king  half  suspects 
this,  and  military  pageants,  save  of  a  very  mild  character,  do  not 
interfere  with  the  General's  pleasures. 

I  have  incidentally  here  and  there  touched  on  the  artistic 
inclinations  of  these  northern  people.  Its  development,  as  we 
well  know  in  America,  is  not  limited  to  pictures  or  statues.     It 


[1  !  1 1  lh til  •',  tbp    llllli 

Hi!  yjjijiliLilJiliiJiiMii 

'Mi- 


ROYAL    PALACE — blOCKHULM. 


is  their  musical  talents  which  are  of  so  high  an  order.  This 
Norwegian  and  Swedish  music  has  a  charm  of  its  own.  Every- 
body seems  to  possess  a  musical  taste,  and  an  appreciation  of 
this  delightful  art.  Even  the  peasant  folk  take  to  music,  and 
while  away  their  time  with  singing,  and  playing  on  various  in- 
struments. In  all  the  great  towns  there  is  always  music  in  the 
air.  In  private  families  the  exercise  of  this  art  is  not  consid- 
ered as  much  of  an  accomplishment  as  a  necessity.  We  know 
in  the  United  States  how  we  have  appreciated  those  artists 
which  Norway  and  Sweden    have  given  us.      When  one  specu- 


464  DENMARK,    NORWAY,    AND    SWEDEN. 

lates  on  the  gifts  the  Almighty  has  implanted  in  man,  it  may  be 
understood  how  in  the  warmer  South,  where  nature  does  so  much 
for  the  human  race,  music  might  have  been  readily  acquired; 
but  here  in  the  cold  North,  where  existence  is  a  struo-ofle  with 
frost  and  cold,  it  is  a  grand  blessing  that  this  love  of  music  is 
implanted  in  these  Norwegian  and  Swedish  men  and  women, 
and  has  done  so  much  to  refine  them.  We  are  to  leave  this 
beautiful  city  of  Stockholm  on  the  morrow.  As  time  is  press- 
ing, the  General's  orders  are  positive,  and  we  obey  with  mili- 
tary alacrity.  We  are  to  take  passage  along  the  Baltic,  and 
are  to  be  at  St.  Petersburg  within  a  few  days.  Now  that  the 
peace  of  Europe  seems  assured  for  a  while,  the  Ex-President 
can  with  perfect  propriety  pay  his  respects  to  the  Emperor  of 
Russia.  We  are  to  take  the  steamer  from  Stockholm,  and  will 
soon  be  enjoying  the  hospitalities  of  the  Paris  of  the  North. 


:.4SS5£? 


EC 


ST.    fklEKsllUKu, 


CHAPTER    XVII. 


RUSSIA. 

[CROSS  the  Baltic,  from  Stockholm  to  St.  Peters- 
burg, is  quite  a  voyage,  some  four  hundred  miles 
or  more  by  sea.  Just  now,  at  the  close  of  July, 
the  trip  has  proved  a  moderately  pleasant  one, 
but  in  the  spring  and  fall  there  are  no  heavier  gales  than  those 
which  blow  through  these  inland  seas.  Away  up  in  the  frozen 
north,  in  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia,  old  Boreas  holds  his  wind  bags, 
and  launches  the  cold  gusts  down  to  the  Baltic  Sea. 

It  is,  indeed,  an  inland  sea,  and  a  vast  one.  Thougfh  it  is 
midsummer,  and  the  sun  has  driven  away  the  clouds,  the  sea  is 
not  very  cheerful,  for  it  has  no  grand  ocean  swell,  and  is  quite 
turbid.  The  wind  is  brisk,  not  exactly  a  gale,  but  one  feels  the 
motion  very  distinctly.  The  party  has  got  its  sea  legs  on  again, 
and  no  one  is  seriously  disturbed.  We  cannot  say  the  same  of 
3°  465 


466 


Ji  USS/A. 


a  number  of  German  tourists,  who  are  evidently  very  much  dis- 
tressed. Our  fellow  passengers  are  of  a  very  heterogeneous 
kind.  We  do  not  notice  that  peculiar  middle  class,  however, 
which  one  finds  in  Southern  Europe.  Take  an  American  or  an 
English  steamer,  going  almost  anywhere,  and  you  will  be  very 
certain  to  find  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  passengers  are  of 
that  honest  class  who  are  seeking  their  fortunes,  and  who  bring 
with  them,  as  capital,  nothing  more  than  their  good  thews 
and  muscles.  There  are  scarcely  any  who  seem  to  be  looking 
for  what  in  America  is  called  a  job. 

Take  that  fine-looking  Italian  with  the  oval  face  and  olive 
complexion,  for  instance.  His  mission  is  undoubtedly  to  present 
his  new  opera  before  a  St.  Petersburg  audience,  if  possible,  and 
so  bring  the  Russians  out  of  what  he  considers  barbarism  into 
culture.  Or  the  inventive  American,  who  is  visiting  Russia  for 
the  purpose  of  introducing  his  patent  rifle,  which  can  be  loaded 
and  fired  fifty  times  a  minute.  His  idea  is  that  with  this  in^ 
valuable  arm  Russia  could  march  straight  to  the  Dardanelles, 
and  he  considers  it  very  unfortunate  the  war  has  not  lasted  six 
months  longer.  The  short  man  leaning  over  the  rail  is  the 
representative  of  the  greatest  banking  house  in  the  world  ;  he 
makes  the  trip  either  to  negotiate  a  loan  or  to  see  about  the 
payment  of  the  last  one.  Russia  draws  to  herself  not  exactly 
those  classed  as  adventurers,  but  she  is  considered  a  place 
where  a  fortune  can  be  made.  To  the  rest  of  Europe  she  is 
still  a  kind  of  terra  incognita. 

As  we  were  skirting  Finland,  not  quite  halfway  on  our 
journey,  the  wind  increased  to  a  gale,  blowing  right  in  our 
teeth.  But  our  vessel  was  an  excellent  one,  the  engines  pow- 
erful, and  in  four  hours  we  outsailed  the  squall.  Occasion- 
ally, as  the  weather  cleared,  we  could  see  the  coast  line, 
which  was  low  and  dreary.  In  time  the  broad  expanse  of  the 
Gulf  of  Finland,  some  hundred  miles  in  width,  narrowed,  and 
smoother  water  was  reached.  Imperceptibly  the  shores  ap- 
proached us,  and  as  we  neared  Cronstadt,  the  weather  made  a 
final  and  positive  clear-up.  We  knew  we  were  near  some  great 
haven,  for  there  were  many  ships  coming  and  going.      Now  and 


CRONSTADT. 


467 


then  a  steamer  passed  bound  to  the  westward.  We  make  out 
a  bright  speck  in  the  far  distance,  which  shines  in  the  sunlight, 
and  are  told  that  that  is  Cronstadt.  the  seaport  of  the  new  Rus- 
sian capital.  We  fly  our  colors,  and  out  of  respect  to  our  chief, 
the  stars  and  stripes  float  from  the  foremast.  As  we  near  the 
outlying  batteries  which  bristle  around  Cronstadt  a  salute  is 
fired.  We  steam  rapidly  into  the  harbor,  past  many  vessels 
of  war,  which  are  all  gay  with  flags.      Though  there  must  have 


S  l  .    ISAAC  ! 


SQUARE,    AND   SENATE    HOUSE. 


been  much  consumption  of  powder  in  Turkey,  there  is  still 
some  of  it  left  in  Northeastern  Russia,  for  in  the  General's 
honor  powder  is  burnt  without  stint.  We  have  no  difficulties, 
of  course,  as  to  passports,  as  all  disagreeable  routine  is  abo- 
lished out  of  consideration  to  the  General.  It  is  the  30th  of 
July,  and  as  time  is  passing,  we  are  anxious  to  reach  St.  Peters- 
burg before  night.  Fortunately  the  reception  at  Cronstadt  was 
not  prolonged.  After  a  brief  address  of  welcome  we  embarked 
on  a  steamboat  and  entered  an  arm  of  the  sea,  into  which  the 
Neva  pours   her   rapid  stream.      The  trip  is  not  a  long  one. 


468  RUSSIA. 

Soon  the  great  city  of  Russia,  with  its  many  lofty  spires,  stands 
out  against  the  blue  sky. 

Immediately  on  arrival  we  were  met  by  the  Hon.  E.  M. 
Stoughton,  our  Minister  at  St.  Petersburg,  who  warmly  wel- 
comed the  distinguished  traveler.  Scarcely  had  the  General 
received  Mr.  Stoughton,  when  the  Emperor's  aide-de-camp, 
Prince  Gortschakoff,  and  other  high  officers  of  the  Imperial 
Court,  called  on  him  with  kind  messages  from  the  Emperor. 
A  grand  audience  was  arranged  to  take  place  next  day,  July 
31st,  when  his  Imperial  Highness  Alexander  and  General 
Grant  met. 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  cordiality  of  the  reception. 
Prince  Gortschakoff,  one  of  the  great  „o-ures  which  rule  the 
destinies  of  men  (the  friend  of  Bismarck  or  his  rival  ;  which, 
no  man  can  say),  was  also  introduced  by  the  Emperor.  The 
Emperor  seemed  amazed  at  the  long  tour  the  General  intended 
making.  A  portion  of  the  conversation  was  occupied  by  the 
Emperor  in  gaining  information  regarding  our  Indians.  The 
subject  seemed  to  interest  him  greatly,  and  questions  were 
asked,  not  only  in  regard  to  their  treatment  in  the  past,  but  as 
to  their  future.  Our  recent  wars  with  them  seemed  to  be  well 
known  by  the  Emperor,  and  the  General  had  to  go  into  very 
particular  details  as  to  the  plans  of  campaigns,  and  the  peculiar 
methods  of  Indian  warfare.  As  the  Russian  Empire  is  such  a 
vast  and  extensive  country,  in  which  innumerable  races  and 
religions  are  represented,  these  questions  and  answers  were 
doubtless  of  great  interest  to  the  Emperor  and  the  Russian 
chancellor. 

At  the  close  of  the  interview,  the  Emperor  accompanied 
the  General  to  the  door,  saying,  "  Since  the  foundation  of  your 
Government,  relations  between  Russia  and  America  have  been 
of  the  friendliest  character,  and  as  long  as  I  live  nothing  shall 
be  spared  to  continue  this  friendship."  The  General's  reply 
was,  "  That  although  the  two  Governments  were  very  opposite 
in  their  character,  the  great  majority  of  the  American  people 
were  in  sympathy  with  Russia,  which  good  feeling  he  hoped 
would    long    continue."     The   Grand    Duke  Alexis  made  it  a 


sr  pETERSBURG 


409 


point  to  meet  the  Ex-President  while  in  St.  Petersburg,  and 
recalled  with  much  pleasure  his  visit  to  America.  The  Grand 
Duke  made  very  many  inquiries  in  regard  to  General  Custer, 
and  tolcl  of  the  deep  solicitude  he  had  felt  on  hearing-  of  his 
death. 

The  General's  call  on  Prince  Gortschakoff  was  an  exceed- 
ingly pleasant  and  social  one.  Several  hours  were  spent  in 
chatting  and  smoking.      European   matters  were  discussed,  and 


the  General  gave  the  chancellor  some  insight  into  American 
politics.  Nothing  strikes  the  American  more  forcibly  than 
the  mature  age  of  European  statesmen.  It  is  too  often  the 
case  in  the  United  States  that  when  a  man  has  passed  his 
fiftieth  or  sixtieth  year  he  becomes  worn  out.  Here  is  Prince 
Gortschakoff,  born  in  1  798,  now  more  than  eighty  years  old, 
who,  though  he  is  physically  frail,  has  still  as  strong  a  brain  as 
he  possessed  in  his  younger  days.  No  amount  of  mental  work 
seems  to  distress  him.  Like  Thiers  and  Guizot,  who,  when  still 
old  men,  were  possessed  with  unfailing  powers,  the  successor  of 


470  RUSSIA. 

Nesselrode  works  unceasingly  at  his  post.  The  interview  was 
remarkably  social  in  character,  and  was  greatly  enjoyed  by  the 
General,  who  expressed  himself  strongly  regarding  the  ability 
and  courtesy  of  the  Russian  chancellor.  Fortunately  there  was 
no  review,  but  in  lieu  of  troops  there  was  a  special  exhibition 
of  the  St.  Petersburg  fire  brigade,  which  proved  to  be  a  very 
interesting  affair. 

An  imperial  yacht  was  placed  at  our  disposal,  in  which  a 
visit  was  made  to  Peterhof — the  Versailles  of  St.  Petersburg. 
Peterhof  is  about  fifteen  miles  from  the  city,  and  is  remarkable 
for  its  splendor,  and,  as  it  commands  a  view  of  Cronstadt,  the 
Gulf  of  Finland,  and  the  capital,  has  no  rival  as  to  position  in 
Europe.  A  most  notable  visit  made  by  the  General  was  to  the 
Russian  man-of-war  "  Peter  the  Great."  A  magnificent  band 
performed  American  airs,  and  a  salute  of  twenty-one  guns  was 
fired.  The  imperial  yacht  then  proceeded  on  to  Cronstadt, 
threading  her  way  among  the  many  noble  vessels  of  the  Rus- 
sian fleet,  all  the  ships  running  up  the  well-beloved  stars  and 
stripes,  the  nimble  sailors  manning  the  yards  and  making  the 
air  resound  with  their  cheers.  Among  the  officers  were  many 
gentlemen,  who  in  their  voyages  had  paid  visits  to  New  York 
and  other  ports  of  the  Union.  These  officers  seemed  desirous 
of  returning  the  many  courtesies  they  had  received  in  the 
United  States.  I  have  but  briefly  summarized  all  these  nota- 
ble events.  Their  more  careful  recapitulation  would  fill  many 
chapters.  As  is  well  known,  the  pomp  and  dignity  of  the 
Emperor  of  Russia,  the  eclat  which  fills  all  court  matters,  the 
splendor  of  the  imperial  equipages,  the  grand,  regal  way  in 
which  everything  is  done,  have  no  equal  in  Europe. 

Sailing  in  from  Cronstadt,  the  impression  St.  Petersburg 
makes  on  the  visitor  is  one  of  unmitigated  surprise,  for  sud- 
denly from  the  flat  shores,  from  the  waste  of  waters,  there 
springs  up  as  if  by  magic  a  great  city,  topped  with  innumerable 
spires.  It  pleased  that  remarkable  man  whom  the  world  called 
Peter  the  Great  to  found  a  city  in  an  apparently  impossible 
spot.  In  1703,  amid  the  swamps  and  morass  of  the  Neva,  the 
new  capital  was  started.      It  is  said  that  foundations  on  founda- 


ST.    PETERSBURG. 


47 i 


tions  were  made,  which  disappeared  one  after  another  before 
the  first  house  was  built.  If  there  was  no  solid  ground,  there 
were  serfs,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  them.  Men's  bones  make 
good  props,  at  times,  for  those  constructions  typical  of  modern 
progress,  which  are  called  railroads.  Of  course,  what  Peter  did 
at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  is  thought  to-day 
to  be  terrible,  but  there  are  works  which  have  been  executed 
in  this  nineteenth  century  (we  call  them  commercial  enter- 
prises), where  the  lives  of  men  have   been  taken  without  stint. 


THE   ALEXWDEK    COLUMN. 


It  was  Peter  who  as  taskmaster  took  his  place  over  hosts  of 
men.  He  was  a  terribly  hard  contractor,  and  never  was  satis- 
fied unless  he  saw  the  work  done  himself  under  his  own  eyes. 
Guide  books  tell  you  how  every  conveyance  that  for  a  long 
lapse  of  years  came  to  St.  Petersburg,  for  pleasure  or  profit, 
had  to  bring  a  certain  quota  of  stones.  In  time,  by  casting  out 
this  rubble  from  carts  and  sledges,  great  cairns  arose.  If  the 
Pyramids  are  said  to  have  been  built  in  this  way,  why  not 
St.  Petersburg?  It  was  the  genius  of  Peter  the  Great  that 
founded  this  city,  and  his  successors,  principally  those  remarka- 


472  RUSSIA. 

ble  ladies,  Mesdames  Anne  and  Catherine,  kept  on  embellish- 
ing St.  Petersburg,  until  to-day  this  modern  capital  is  among 
the  most  imposing  cities  of  Europe.  Of  course,  in  a  certain 
respect  Peter  had  peculiar  advantages,  for,  in  choosing  a  site 
for  his  city,  there  were  no  elevations  to  cut  down  ;  therefore 
St.  Petersburg  lies  flat  before  you,  without  a  single  elevation. 
All  European  cities  have  great  advantages  as  to  architectural 
display.  When  a  building  is  erected  there  is  always  a  frame 
for  it.  This  setting  consists  of  a  large  open  space,  in  which 
the  building  is  posed.  Who  could  appreciate  a  giant  if  our 
only  opportunity  to  judge  of  his  height  was  gained  by  our 
standing  directly  at  his  feet,  and  looking  straight  upward  ? 
Americans  who  have  made  the  plots  of  towns,  with  very  few 
exceptions,  have  never  been  prone  to  allow  for  any  magnificent 
distances.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  time  to  come  originators 
of  cities  (and  there  are  many  men  now  alive  who  may  found 
cities  in  the  United  States)  will,  with  certain  utilitarian  ideas, 
combine  some  faint  notions  of  ornamentation.  A  grand  spa- 
ciousness is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Russian  capital. 
Paris  bears  in  mind  this  encadrement  of  public  buildings  to  a 
marked  degree,  and  next  to  the  French  capital  St.  Petersburg 
has  best  developed  this  idea.  To  appreciate  St.  Petersburg, 
however,  to  seize  it  as  a  whole,  an  artificial  elevation  must 
be  sought.  Fortunately  lofty  spires  abound,  and  from  the 
highest  tower  of  the  Admiralty  St.  Petersburg  may  be  seen 
in  all  its  grandeur.  From  this  tower  the  Palace  of  the  Se- 
nate, that  of  the  Holy  Synod,  St.  Isaac's,  the  magnificent  Win- 
ter Palace,  and  the  War  Office  can  be  seen.  Streets  of  great 
breadth,  flanked  by  rows  of  superb  houses,  stretch  out  in- 
definitely into  the  distance.  Turn  in  another  direction  and 
you  catch  the  peculiar  configuration  of  the  city.  The  Neva 
bends  almost  on  itself,  forming  quite  an  angle,  then  divides 
into  two  branches,  the  Great  and  the  Little  Neva.  Here  are 
islands  reached  by  many  bridges.  The  Neva,  that  turbulent 
stream  which  flows  from  Lake  Ladoga,  is  held  partially  un- 
der control  by  massive  granite  quays.  Look  south  of  the 
Admiralty,    and    you    see  what    is    called    the   East    Side,    the 


THE  NEVA. 


473 


Bolshaia  Horona,  the  Academy  of  Science,  and  the  Ex- 
change. Up  north  is  military  St.  Petersburg,  where  are  the 
barracks,  and  many  thousand  soldiers.  The  "  Great  Side  "  of 
the  city  is  sacred  to  the  court  and  nobility,  and  is  the  most 
closely  built. 

Streets  in  St.  Petersburg  are  wide  and  spacious,  and  give 
an  idea  of  vastness.  I  suppose  good  sense  dictated  width  of 
streets  to  autocratic  Peter.  He  could  command  men,  and  pos- 
sibly their  actions  ;  but  a  heavy  fall  of  snow  in  a  narrow  Rus- 


A    DROSKV. 


sian  street  would  not  only  have  been  quite  objectionable,  but 
beyond  his  control.  The  Neva  takes  such  an  abrupt  turn  that, 
though  there  are  several  bridges,  to  reach  them  or  to  arrive  at 
the  exact  place  on  the  other  side  of  the  city  might  prove  a 
great  waste  of  time ;  accordingly  many  little  boats  are  con- 
stantly crossing  the  arms  of  the  Neva.  It  was  a  grand  site 
after  all,  this  one  chosen  by  Peter,  for  if  he  had  any  inclinations 
toward-  imitating  Holland  and  his  Dutch  city  of  predilection, 
here  was  a  good  chance.  It  is  said  that  Peter  could  not  ima- 
gine a  city  without  canals,  and  so  in  his   time   many  of  them 


474 


RUSSIA. 


were  cut,  but  after  a  while  were  abandoned,  and  years  ago  were 
filled  up.  Was  it  not  this  same  Peter  who  built  in  the  midst 
of  the  capital,  on  the  Petersburg  Island,  the  citadel?  It  is  a 
huge  frowning  construction,  which  looks  askance  at  the  city. 
Since  Cronstadt  shows  its  teeth,  and  is  the  aggressive  portion 
of  St.  Petersburg,  it  is  supposable  that  the  citadel  was  wanted 
for  the  good  of  the  city  itself. 

If  St.  Petersburg  is  anything  it  is  devotional.  Of  all  the 
churches  St.  Isaac's  is  the  most  imposing,  and  its  situation  the 
finest.  Near  it  is  the  Admiralty,  the  Winter  Palace,  the  War 
Office,  the  Pillar  of  Alexander,  and  the  equestrian  figure  which 
crowns  the  rock,  dedicated  to  the  great  Czar  Peter.  I  do  not 
know  how  many  churches  had  been  built  on  this  precise  place 
— some  three  or  four,  I  believe — before  Nicholas  put  his  heart 
and  soul  into  the  construction  of  this  particular  one.  To  set 
the  foundations  a  whole  forest  of  Finland  pines  was  driven  into 
the  earth.  There  are  four  great  entrances,  to  each  of  which 
there  is  a  peristyle.  The  style  is  pure  Corinthian,  which  is  bold- 
ness itself,  when  one  considers  the  peculiarities  of  the  climate, 
for  architecture  assorts  itself  to  temperatures,  as  the  flowers  do. 
The  building  is  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  Grand  pillars,  with  bronze 
capitals,  support  portions  of  the  frieze.  In  keeping  with  the 
Byzantine  feeling,  a  cupola  of  copper,  ruddy  with  gold,  flashes  in 
the  clear  August  sun,  and  above  all  is  a  gilt  cross.  Can  I  tell  of  the 
immense  quantity  of  silver  whioh  has  been  used  on  this  shrine? 
Those  doors,  that  railing  of  the  Holy  of  Holies,  the  sanctuary, 
are  of  solid  silver.  The  Greek  Church  will  not  permit  of  sta- 
tues of  the  Saviour,  or  of  the  Mother  of  God,  or  of  even  the 
saints  ;  but  pictorial  representations  are  admissible.  All  these 
pictures  are  framed  with  silver  ;  the  silver  is  polished  bright, 
and  glistens  in  the  light.  Malachite,  that  green  stone  which 
we  see  sometimes  in  small  bits  in  ladies'  brooches,  is  lavished 
in  huge  blocks  on  this  cathedral.  The  shrine  is  resplendent 
with  malachite.  It  is  rich,  it  is  gorgeous,  just  such  a  gift  as  a 
Prince  Demidoff,  an  arch-millionaire,  might  give  to  a  church. 
The  profusion  of  gold  heightens  the  effect.  There  are  niches 
in  the  church,  where  have  been  placed  the  statues  of  the  Grand 


OUR   LADY   OF  KAZAN. 


475 


Dukes  Vladimir,  Alexander  Nevsky,  of  St.  Andrew,  and  St. 
John.  I  suppose  next  in  importance  is  the  Cathedral  of  St. 
Petersburg,  of  which  our  Lady  of  Kazan  is  the  tutelary  saint. 
This  church  is  constructed  somewhat  after  the  model  of  St. 
Peter's  in  Rome.  Here  is  the  painting  of  that  much-famed 
Lady  of  Kazan,  whose  sanctity  is  known  throughout  all  Rus- 
sia. Those  Cossacks  who  are  Christians,  those  bold  horsemen 
of  the  Don,  speak  with  reverence  of  this  saint,  for  she  was  half 


NEVSKOl    PKOSl'EKT. 


a  Cossack  herself,  for  John  Vassielevitsh  brought  her  from 
Kazan  to  Moscow;  and  from  the  old  capital  of  Russia,  Peter 
the  Great  transported  her  to  St.  Petersburg.  The  Lady  of 
Kazan  sparkles  in  diamonds,  rubies,  and  pearls,  all  of  the  finest 
water,  for  great  Russian  dignitaries  are  lavish  with  precious 
stones  when  they  offer  them  to  a  pictured  saint.  In  the  streets 
among  the  better  class  one  sees  a  great  many  people  in  mourn- 
ing, and  a  number  of  carriages  bear  the  insignia  indicative  of 
family  loss.  It  is  not  so  long  ago  that  Russia  gave  up  her 
thousands  of  lives  before  Plevna  and  Erzeroum. 


476  RUSSIA. 

The  military  aspect  of  Russian  churches,  that  warlike  pro- 
clivity toward  which  most  of  them  tend,  tourists  and  travelers 
are  apt  to  descant  upon.      Here  in  this  cathedral,  over  which 
the  Lady  of  Kazan  presides,  are  hung  on  pillars  and  cornices 
trophies  wrested  from  the  enemies  of  Russia.      Here  are  batons 
torn  from  the  hands  of  French  marshals,  and  an  extensive  col- 
lection of  huge   keys  which   once   opened   the   gates  of  cities 
which   Russia   first  bombarded  and  then   captured.      Here  are 
tattered   flags   and   standards,   French,   Turkish,   and    Persian, 
which  have  been   splashed  in  blood.      Every   one  of   them   is 
an  indication  of  a  death-struggle.     That  baton  belonged  once  to 
the   Prince  of  Eckmuhl,  and  those  keys  opened  the  cities  of 
Leipzig,  Rheims,  Breda,  Utrecht,  and  even  Hamburg.     Specu- 
late on  the  fitness  of  such  trophies  in  a  church  !     All  a  philo- 
sophical man  can  say  is  that  it  is  a  survival,  a  barbarous  one, 
derived  from  the  old  Romans  who  made  war  and  religion  in- 
separable.    One  can  see  in   Berlin    many  such  trophies,  some 
with   the  blood  almost   dripping  from   them  ;  but   in  the  Prus- 
sian Arsenal  they  have  a  certain  sad  appropriateness  which  does 
not  shock  one's  sensibilities  nearly  as  much  as  when  seen  in 
a  place   devoted  to  the  worship   of  God.      In  the  fortress,  the 
citadel  of  St.  Petersburg,  is  found  the  church  of  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Paul.      In  case  of  any  trouble  in  the  Russian  capital  her  de- 
fenders or  aggressors  (either  you  please)  might  find  prayers  or 
powder.      It  was  Peter  the  Great  who  conceived  this  military 
church,  and  it  has  this  glory,  that  the  top  of  its  cross  is  about 
nineteen  feet  higher  than  that  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.     This 
church   is  the   resting  place  of  the  Russian   emperors.      Before 
Peter,  a   long  line    of    barbarian    emperors    sought   their  final 
rest   in   holy  Moscow.      Peter  was   the   first   Russian   ruler  who 
found  a  tomb  in  the  church  of   his  own  building,  and  after  him 
have   come   all  the  rest,  even  to   Nicholas,  the  great  autocrat. 
Nothing  can  be  simpler  than  the  character  of  the  tombs  which 
hold  the  dust  of  the  dead  emperors.      It  is  a  singular  fact  that, 
notwithstanding  the  Russian's  great  fondness  for  pomp  and  splen- 
dor, he  is  in  the  ornamentation  of  the  grave  the  most  simple. 
Suspended  to  the  pillars  of  this  church  is  another  collection  of 


MICH.  I II.  OFF  P.  IL.  I CE. 


4-77 


military  trophies.  There  is  one  Turkish  flag  here  of  ancient 
date,  which  shows  rive  red  stains  where  the  color-bearer  griped 
it  with  his  fingers  as  he  fell  dead.  Here  are  shown  certain 
sacred  vessels,  in  use  by  the  Greek  ritual,  which  were  made  by 
Peter.  They  are  finished  specimens  of  the  carver's  work.  If 
Peter  had  not  known  how  to  create  a  powerful  country  and  to 
found  cities,  he  would  certainly  have  made  a  first-class  ship- 
builder or  wood 
and  ivory  turner. 
The  church  or  con- 
vent of  Smonloi  is 
so  splendid  in  con- 
struction and  inter- 
nal decoration  as 
to  be  one  of  the 
great  ecclesiastical 
ornaments  of  the 
city.  Above  it  rise 
five  cupolas  paint- 
ed blue  and  flecked 
with  golden  stars. 
The  Neva  sweeps 
around  a  portion  of 
the  cloister.  Here 
young  ladies  of  no- 
ble birth,  havine 
the  requisite  num- 
ber of   quarterings, 


I 


HHBMflW 


OUR    LADY   OF    KAZAN. 


their  blue  blood  being  fully  established,  can  receive  an  educa- 
tion. There  are  numerous  convents  of  the  Greek  Church  in 
St.  Petersburg,  all  of  them  richly  endowed.  Some  of  these, 
like  the  churches,  are  slightly  garish  with  displays  of  mili- 
tary trophies.  In  one  of  them  on  the  Nevskoi  Prospekt 
are  two  famous  portraits,  the  one  of  Peter,  "the  founder," 
and  the  other  of  Catherine,  "the  finisher"  of  St.  Petersburg. 
The  Michailoff  Palace  is  a  grave,  impressive-looking  build- 
ing on  the    Fontanka    Canal,    but    hardly   has   the    look    of  a 


478 


I?  USSIA. 


place  of  plaisance.  It  was  built  by  the  Emperor  Paul,  but 
he  died  shortly  after  it  was  finished.  The  palace  recalls 
in  some  respects  the  peculiarity  of  the  Russian.  In  order 
to  perform  the  impossible,  to  finish  it  against  time,  five  thou- 
sand men  were  set  to  work  night  and  day.  To  dry  the  rooms 
fires  were  built,  and  it  cost  accordingly  five  or  six  times 
more  than  it  was  all  worth.  Here  are  the  very  rooms  where 
the  luckless  Paul  met  his  death,  but  they  are  sealed  up  and 
closed  to  curious  strangers.  It  is  not  inhabited  now  by  any 
members  of  the  imperial  family,  but  serves  as  a  school  for  mili- 
tary engineers.  It  is  said  that  within  this  palace  are  kept 
models  of  all  the  famed  fortresses  in  the  world,  and  among 
them  is  that  of  the  citadel  at  the  Dardanelles.  The  Winter 
Palace  is  the  great  attraction  towering  up  on  the  bank  of  the 
Neva.  Its  proportions  are  immense,  and  it  is  profuse  in  ar- 
chitectural design.  The  principal  entrance,  which  is  of  marble, 
leads  to  continuous  suites  of  rooms.  Here  is  the  Golden  Room 
used  for  imperial  receptions,  the  White  Saloon,  and  St.  George's 
Hall.  Nothing:  can  be  more  gorgeous  than  the  interior  fittings. 
It  is  all  that  luxury  and  splendor  can  imagine.  From  every 
frontage  a  noble  view  can  be  had.  Looking  toward  the  south 
is  the  Imperial  Square,  whence  rises  the  column  dedicated  to 
the  memory  of  Alexander.  It  is  of  a  single  block  of  stone,  and 
came  from  the  Gulf  of  Finland.  'I  his  palace,  as  its  name  de- 
signates, is  used  by  the  Emperor  in  winter,  and  with  the  rigors 
of  the  climate  it  must  be  exceedingly  difficult  to  make  these 
vast  rooms  warm  and  comfortable.  It  is  by  a  covered  way  that 
the  Hermitage  is  reached.  It  was  here  that  Catherine  sought 
rest  after  the  fatigues  of  her  court.  It  was  at  the  Hermitage  that 
she  founded  a  very  peculiar  republic  devoted  to  art  and  letters. 
It  contains  one  of  the  choicest  and  most  superb  collections 
of  pictures  in  the  world.  It  is  not  only  for  the  works  of  famed 
masters  that  the  Hermitage  is  famous,  but  there  is  room  after 
room  sparkling  with  precious  stones,  where  there  are  cor- 
nices of  porphyry,  figures  made  of  lapis-lazuli  and  malachite  in 
such  profusion  that  it  is  dazzling.  Possibly  because  in  the 
United  States  we  are  not  born  to  see  palaces,  one  very  soon  tires 


STREETS    OF  ST.  PETERSTi'RC. 


479 


of  such  magnificence.      Nothing  can  be  more  fatiguing  than  the 
long  march  through  the  endless  galleries  of  a  palace.      Tl 


i  lie 


mind  like  the  body  can  only  be  taxed  to  a  certain  point,  and 
after  that,  sight-seeing,  even  if  it  be  a  picture  painted  by  a 
Raphael,  becomes  a  wearisome  task.  The  appearance  of  the 
soldiers  dressed  in  varied  uniforms  gives  a  brilliant  character 
to  the  streets.  Evidently  all  the  armed  men  Russia  has  at  her 
command  are  not  on  the  frontiers.  Here  are  Cossacks,  and 
some    Georgian    costumes  which  are  very    picturesque.       But 


hf"!l,:,,:*rs 


THE    ENGLISH    Qt'AV. 


aside  from  the  military  display,  here  are  all  the  Northern  races, 
Finns  and  Esthonians,  and  those  stunted  men  must  live  away  up 
in  far  Northeastern  Russia.  There  is  a  mass  of  promenaders, 
and  an  appearance  of  elegance  and  fashionable  display  which  is 
even  more  pronounced  than  in  Paris.  The  streets  are  alive  with 
vehicles.  Who  could  write  of  the  great  Russian  city  and  not 
describe  the  droskyand  its  driver,  the  isvoshtshik?  When  dis- 
tances are  so  great  as  in  this  city,  and  the  streets  are  so  bad,  a 
vehicle  is  a  necessity.      The  drosky  is  the  cab  of  St.  Petersburg. 


480 


RUSSIA. 


It  maybe  described  as  a  kind  of  cloth-covered  bench  supported 
on  caleche  C-springs,  with  a  perch  on  which  the  driver  sits.  It 
jolts  considerably,  and  when  one  is  unaccustomed  to  riding  on 
a  drosky,  the  idea  seems  to  pervade  you  that  the  fare  is  going 
to  be  spilt.  But  you  very  soon  get  used  to  it.  The  driver  is 
peculiar.  He  wears  a  hat  without  a  brim,  his  coat  comes  tight 
over  his  breast,  and  buttons  over  his  shoulder.  Behind  him  on 
his  back  is  his  badge  and  number  convenient  for  reference. 
The  horses  are  sturdy  little  steeds  that  seem  tireless.  Now 
the  drosky,  as  it  belongs  to  a  St.  Petersburg  gentleman,  is  a  very 
neat  and  stylish  affair,  especially  when  the  driver  is  dressed  in 
his  livery,  and  the  horses  are  fine  Ukraine  steeds.  Then  it  is 
as  handsome  a  turnout  as  you  would  wish  to  see.  All  day  long 
through  the  streets,  mixed  up  with  the  more  shabby  equipages, 
are  the  droskies  of  the  officers,  which  go  at  such  a  speed  that 
the  plumes  on  the  spiked  helmets  of  these  warriors  stream  out 
in  the  breeze.  The  drivers  of  the  street  droskies  are  said  to  be 
somewhat  extortionate  in  their  charges.  One  thing  for  which 
they  deserve  credit,  however,  is  their  kindness  to  the  horses  ; 
the  whip  is  seldom  used,  and  where  in  rough  places  droskies 
have  stuck  fast,  the  solicitude  and  affection  of  the  isvoshtshik 
toward  his  horses  are  very  earnest,  and  he  may  be  heard  using 
such  endearing  expressions  as  "My  friend,  my  sweetheart,  my 
brother,"  to  urge  them  on.  The  skill  of  these  drivers  is  won- 
derful, for  foot  passengers  seem  to  have  the  right  of  way  with 
a  vengeance,  and  apparently  court  being  run  over.  As  the 
isvoshtshik  drives,  he  constantly  cries  out  words  of  warning  to 
the  vehicles  or  to  the  passers-by. 

It  is  on  the  Nevskoi  Prospekt  that  the  street  life  of  St.  Peters- 
burg is  best  seen.  It  extends  a  distance  of  fully  four  versts  from 
the  Alexander  Nevskoi  Monastery  to  the  Admiralty.  At  first 
it  is  rather  commonplace,  but  soon  the  character  of  the  street 
improves,  and  fine  buildings  of  three  and  four  stories  are  found 
on  either  side.  It  traverses  the  Fontanka  Canal,  but  the  portion 
near  the  Admiralty  is  the  finest  and  most  fashionable  portion. 
There  is  no  street  more  superb  or  more  original  in  Europe. 
Handsome  equipages  are  forever  passing  here,  and  on  the  side- 


ST.   PETERSBURG. 


481 


walks,  now  that  it  is  summer,  the  fashionable  people  of  the 
city  are  to  be  found.  Elegant  shops  abound,  and  though  there 
is  not  the  same  effort  at  display  as  in  Parisian  or  New 
York  stores,  the  goods,  when  they  are  shown  you,  are  of 
the  finest  quality.  In  fact,  nothing  seems  to  be  too  good 
or  too  expensive  for  the  higher  classes.  St.  Petersburg  is 
given  to  holidays.  The  Greek  Church  has  many  festivals, 
most  of  which  are  kept  by  the  Russians;   but   the   city  is  made 


I 

$  A  ■ 

t 

up  of  so   many  religions, 
:mw*i*-  jews>     Christians,      and 

Mohammedans,  that  there 
is  hardly  a  day  when  the  opportunity  to  divert  themselves  is 
not  taken  by  some  class  or  other.  But  it  is  not  alone  on  the 
numerous  superb  streets  that  an  insight  can  be  had  of  the 
magnificence  of  the  city.  A  walk  along  the  quays,  which  are 
built  of  solid  granite,  shows  how  great  St.  Petersburg  really 
is.  The  houses  along  the  English  Quay  are  simply  palaces, 
for  here  the  fashionable  people  of  the  empire  dwell.  It  is  in 
winter  that  the  city  has  a  cachet  of  its  own.  All  these  boats 
and  gondolas  on  the  Neva  are  pretty  enough,  but  the  Neva  is 
finest  when  it  is  frozen  over.      The  streets  of  the  capital  are  at 


482 


RUSSIA. 


their  best  when  covered  with  snow.  Then  the  sledges  fill  the 
street.  At  twenty  degrees  below  zero  St.  Petersburg  enjoys 
itself.  It  is  a  long  winter,  for  it  gets  cold  in  October,  and  the 
rigor  of  the  climate  continues  until  May.  Fortunately  for  St. 
Petersburg,  when  the  thermometer  sinks  to  thirty  degrees  below- 
zero,  the  wind  dies  out.  In  the  winter  there  are  large  rooms, 
which  are  warmed  at  public  expense,  where  a  living  temperature 
can  be  had  gratuitously  by  the  poorer  classes.  The  great  market 
place  of  St.  Petersburg  is  the  Gostinnoi-Dvoi.  All  the  bazaars 
in  Russian  towns  go  by  this  name,  but  this  St.  Petersburg  one 
is  the  great  market  of  the  world.  On  one  side,  this  general 
market,  or  perpetual  fair,  is  bounded  by  the  Nevskoi  Prospekt, 
and  on  the  other  by  the  Bolkhaia  SadovaYa,  or  great  Garden 
Street.  Various  trades  and  callings  seem  to  come  together  in 
this  market.  Here  are  silversmiths,  there  ironworkers,  farther 
on  are  to  be  found  wood  and  coal  merchants,  and  behind  these 
are  the  carriage-makers.  It  is,  apparently,  at  first  sight,  the 
grandest  of  jumbles,  where,  however,  a  certain  amount  of  system 
soon  becomes  evident.  Here  are  boots,  saddlery,  copperware, 
furniture,  china,  cast-off  clothing,  confectionery,  bird  cages, 
drugs,  hats,  and  even  dilapidated  sewing-machines — everything 
in  fact  except  arms.  All  the  time  through  the  streets  and 
by-ways  of  this  market  come  dashing  droskies  and  wagons  land- 
ing buyers  and  unloading  goods.  This  immense  agglomeration 
of  buildings  holds  no  less  than  ten  thousand  busy  merchants. 

The  railroad  which  unites  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow 
was  built  by  Winans  and  Harrison,  two  enterprising  American 
engineers,  who  gained  fame  and  wealth  in  Russia.  How  true 
that  story  is  which  explains  the  peculiar  straight  line  the  road 
makes,  we  are  unable  to  vouch  for.  It  is  gravely  stated  that 
when  the  engineers  had  devised  their  line,  with  its  gradients,  it 
had  certain  inclinations  to  the  right  and  left,  so  that  the  iron 
road  should  tap  some  of  the  adjacent  towns  between  the  new 
and  the  old  capitals.  When  the  map  was  shown  to  Nicholas,  he 
simply  shook  his  head.  "  He  would  have  no  such  twisting 
road  in  his  dominions."  Taking  a  ruler,  he  placed  it  between 
Moscow    and    St.  Petersburg,    drew   with    a    pen    a    red  line  as 


Rt/SS/.l.Y  RAILROADS. 


483 


straight  as  could  be  between  the  two  points,  remarking,  "  Make 
your  road  so  as  to  follow  precisely  this  tracing.  A  straight 
line  is  the  shortest  distance  between  two  points,  and  that  is  all 
there  is  about  it.  Good  day,  gentlemen."  Such  towns  of  im- 
portance as  Russia  might  have  had,  when  the  road  was  pro 
jected,  were  not  near  the  line. 

There  were  many  disputants  in  the  guise  of  noble  owners 
of  the   soil,  all  wanting  the  road   to  pass   near  their  domains. 


And  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  promptness  of  Nicholas,  the 
business  might  have  hung  fire  for  years.  As  it  is,  this  railroad 
is,  in  some  respects,  like  the  roads  prospected  in  the  United 
States  some  twenty  years  ago.  It  does  connect  two  large 
cities,  but  there  is  nothing  between  them  which  helps  traffic. 
Russia  is  not  much  given  to  take  advantage  of  an  opportunity. 
In  other  countries,  towns  would  have  sprung  up  mushroom-like 
near  the  iron  rail.  This  road  might  have  been  as  some 
huge  ribbon  on  which  pearls  could  have  been  strung.  But 
either  from  the  rigor  of   the   climate,  want  of  energy,   or   from 


4*4 


RUSSIA. 


absence  of  the  speculative  tendency,  towns  containing  even 
a  small  number  of  inhabitants  have  no  existence  along  this 
railroad. 

The  road  is  admirable  in  construction,  and  the  carriages  are 
of  the  best  American  make  and  style.  Of  course,  railway  officials 
were  most  polite,  an  elegant  carriage  having  been  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  the  General.  Leaving  St.  Petersburg,  the  railroad 
runs  through  a  flat  country,  and  soon  on  both  sides  of  the  track 
you  notice  forests  of  birch.  The  trees,  with  their  silvery  bark, 
stand  out  in  relief  against  darker  woods  beyond.  Occasion- 
ally you  pass  near  some  obscure  village,  or  small  assemblage 
of  houses,  with  its  humble  church  of  stone,  surmounted  by  a 
belfry.  For  ever  and  ever  do  the  broad,  flat  plains  spread  out 
monotonously  in  the  distance.  The  same  birch  trees,  with 
here  and  there  a  fir,  are  seen  as  you  glide  along  at  the  goodly 
speed  of  thirty  miles  an  hour,  for  between  St.  Petersburg  and 
Moscow  the  distance  is  something  over  four  hundred  miles, 
and  the  General  was  to  accomplish  the  journey,  counting  all 
stoppages,  in  twenty  hours.  One  is  struck  by  the  elegance 
of  the  stations,  and  the  excellence  of  the  food.  On  the  arrival 
of  the  train  the  tables  are  laid  with  those  usual  excitants  which 
stimulate  the  Russian  appetite.  There  are  plenty  of  bottles, 
too,  filled  with  good  French  wines,  and  some  with  the  very 
excellent  products  of  the  grape  grown  in  Southern  Russia. 
It  is  a  positive  necessity,  owing  to  the  rigors  of  the  Russian 
climate,  that  the  traveler  should  be  supplied  with  good  food. 
What  a  delight  it  must  be  for  the  wear}-  voyager,  whose  eyes 
have  been  tired  with  seeing  nothing  but  a  broad  expanse  of 
snow,  to  enter  one  of  these  stations,  and  find  pleasant  warmth 
and  good  food.  With  all  our  rattle  and  bustle,  there  are  many 
points  which  we  might  borrow  from  the  French,  German,  and 
most  especially  Russian  methods  of  caring  for  the  traveling 
public.  It  is  quite  exceptional  to  see  men  working  in  the  fields; 
now  and  then  a  group  of  women  may  be  seen  using  a  short 
sickle,  working  manfully  at  the  poor,  sickly  crop.  They  sing  a 
low  chant  as  they  work,  which  has  a  peculiarly  sad  melodic 
phrase  in  it.      These  women  look  very  squalid  and  wretched,  and 


ON   THE    WAY  TO   MOSCOW. 


48; 


are  miserably  clothed.  The  dearth  of  population  strikes  one 
most  forcibly,  as  the  country  is  as  sparsely  settled  as  one  of  the 
Far-Western  Territories  of  the  Unit*  d  States.  These  poor  peo- 
ple, you  will  remember,  a  few  years  ago  were  all  serfs.  In  point 
of  education,  in  their  now  more  difficult  position  of  life,  which 
requires  human  beings  to  take  care  of  themselves,  they  have  as 
yet  little  if  any  experience.  Their  tutelage  lasted  so  many  years, 
that  they  can  hardly  yet  appreciate 
the  blessings  of  freedom  ;  right 
after  emancipation  too  much  must 
not  be  expected  of  these  poor 
peasant-folk.  The  climate  and  the 
habits  of  the  people  too  are  op- 
posed to  a  natural,  healthy  increase 
of   inhabitants.      Distances  are  im- 


mense.   It  is  a  struggle  for  life  with 


many  of  these  people.  Some  little 
responsibility,  a  very  vague  one  it 
is  true,  was  felt  by  the  master 
before  the  people  were  made  free. 
Now  it  is  a  matter  of  perfect  in- 
difference to  him  how  those  who 
were  once  his  serfs  get  along.  It 
is  a  bad  state  of  affairs,  and  where 
it  will  lead  to  no  one  can  say. 
Station  after  station  is  left  behind. 
( >ccasionally  you  pass  a  long  train 
filled  with  soldiers,  a  portion  of 
the  troops  who   have  been   in  the 

Turkish  campaign,  and  are  being  moved  to  the  north  of  the 
empire.  They  look  in  fine  condition,  and  are  neatly  clad. 
By  and  by  the  Valdai  Hills  are  seen  in  the  distance;  though 
of  no  imposing  height,  they  are  quite  refreshing  to  see,  as  a 
hill  of  any  kind  is  agreeable  after  so  much  flat  country. 
These  hills  are  the  water-sheds  of  Europe,  for  from  these  slight 
elevations,  as  the  rain  gathers,  flow  the  broad  streams  that 
pour  into  both   the   Baltic  and  the  Caspian.      There  are   more 


486  RUSSIA. 

stations.  Great  heavens  !  how  hungry  a  man — at  least  the 
Russian — seems  to  be  on  his  travels.  As  the  purveyors  at  these 
stations  seem  to  understand  that  human  appetites  may  become 
sated  in  time  with  even  the  best  of  fare,  you  will  notice  a  change 
in  the  menu.  As  you  near  Moscow  the  dainty  character  of 
the  restauration  increases,  and  you  find  those  peculiar  pies 
called  piro  ga,  the  most  scarlet  and  delicate  raspberries,  and 
Russian  tea.  (How  excellent  it  is!)  The  samovar  is  always 
on  the  boil.  Take  it  as  your  Russ  does,  in  a  tumbler  scalding 
hot,  nicely  sugared,  with  a  slice  of  lemon,  and  it  is  the  best  of 
beverages.  As  you  near  Moscow,  the  road  runs  through  a 
more  picturesque  and  thickly  settled  country.  Gliding  along 
through  handsome  gardens  and  pleasure  grounds,  ornate  cot- 
tages, sheets  of  water,  and  broad,  intersecting  streets,  you  come 
at  last  to  a  halt.  This  is  Moscow,  the  old  capital  of  Russia, 
and  one  of  the  most  famous  cities  of  the  world.  There  is  a 
large  attendance  at  the  station.  Hats  are  lifted,  and  loud 
cheers  are  heard.  Here  are  Russian  officers,  brilliant  with  or- 
ders, who  press  forward,  and  pay  their  respects  to  the  Ex-Presi- 
dent. And  there  is  cjuite  an  assemblage  of  Americans,  all  eager 
to  welcome  the  distinguished  traveler. 

If  ever  a  city  had  a  peculiar  physiognomy,  one  especially  its 
own,  it  is  Moscow.  It  is  the  special  link  which  combines  the 
East  with  the  West,  not  that  East  exactly  which  finds  its  repre- 
sentative in  the  Arabs,  but  in  the  sturdier  Tartar  race.  That 
mighty  horde  from  the  East  which  migrated  from  some  un- 
known center  in  Asia  thousands  of  years  ago,  and  which  tra- 
veled toward  the  setting  sun,  halted  on  the  way,  and  in  time  took 
up  a  certain  amount  of  civilization  in  those  countries  east  of  the 
Ural  Mountains.  Then  it  divided  its  forces  :  one  body  swept 
northerly,  crossed  the  mountains,  and  set  up  their  tents  in  Rus- 
sia, and  became  Christian;  the  other,  bending  southerly,  overran 
Northern  Turkey,  and  became  Mohammedan.  The  vestiges  of 
the  old  Tartar  are  seen  unmistakably  in  Moscow.  In  the  North 
of  Russia  the  admixture  with  the  Einnish  and  aboriginal  races 
is  most  marked.  Of  course  the  higher  classes  at  St.  Peters- 
burg and   Moscow  do    not    show  these  salient  peculiarities  of 


MOSCOW. 


487 


race,  but  it  is  very  easily  distinguished  in  the  common  folk. 
Nothing  is  more  permanent  than  the  tastes  of  a  people  as  deve- 
loped in  their  architecture,  and  the  famous  building  of  Moscow, 
the  Kremlin,  is  typical  of  this  marked  Oriental  feeling.  Mos- 
cow has  been  one  of  the  great  bulwarks  of  Eastern  Christian- 
ity, and  has  often  repulsed  from  under  her  very  walls  the  Tartar 
hordes  which  strove  to  subjugate  the  country.  Moscow  recalls 
to  every  one  the  story  of  the  great  epic  of  the  beginning  of  this 
century,  the  arresting  of  the  march  of  the  ambitious  conqueror, 


■lilJIIlllll'mi-iJHM, 


CATHEDRAL    OF  THE    ASSfMPTTON. 


Napoleon,  the  conflagration  of  the  city,  and  the  terrible  retreat 
of  the  French.  Over  there  are  the  Sparrow  Hills,  from  where 
the  leading  files  of  the  French  army  first  saw  Moscow,  the  Mos- 
cow which  was  to  bring  on  them  ruin  and  disaster.  Of  course 
the  remembrance  of  the  heroic  action  of  the  Russian  commanders 
has  not  been  forgotten  by  the  people  of  Moscow,  and,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  wonders  of  their  city,  it  is  often  remarked,  "  that 
though  Moscow  now  be  great,  it  never  can  be  so  magnificent  as 
it  was  before  it  was  burnt."  Moscow  is  placed  in  the  midst 
of   an    undulating    country   where   low   hills   abound,    and  the 


488 


RUSSIA. 


Moskwa  River  traverses  it.  The  city  itself  is  in  some  re- 
spects like  what  we  call  in  the  United  States  a  garden  city. 
In  the  center  is  the  Kremlin,  surrounded  by  a  wall,  and  no 
new  edifice  is  ever  allowed  to  be  built  within  its  sacred  pre- 
cincts. On  the  right  of  this  there  is  a  quaint  block  of  houses, 
inclosed  and  separated,  called  the  Kitai  Gorocl,  or  Chinese  City; 
beyond    this    are  broad  spaces  tastefully  laid    out  with  shade 

trees    and     walks. 
The    houses    are 
cottage  -  like,     and 
surrounded     by 
beautiful    gardens. 
These    are    placed 
somewhat  in  juxta- 
position, the  hand- 
some    cottage     of 
the    rich     Moscow 
citizen     or     noble 
alongside     of     the 
dwelling  of  one  of 
lesser  social   posi- 
tion.     The      main 
streets    are    spa- 
cious, increasing  in 
width  as  the}'  reach 
t  h  e      boulevards  ; 
but  then  there  is  a 
multitude  of  small- 
er cross   streets, 
which  afford  most 
charming  views  of 
private  residences. 
You  can  leave  a  broad  thoroughfare   which   is   thronged  with 
fine  ladies  and  gentlemen   all   dashing  along  in   their  splendid 
equipages,  and  in  a  minute  you   find  yourself   in   the   country. 
There  are,  in   fact,  many  of  these  charming  villas  within  thi 
great  city,  which  lias  a  circuit  of  over  twenty  miles.      Most  of 


-    -  -  -2= — -  -' 

TOWER   OF  JOHN     I  HE   GKE  \  I  . 


MOSCO IV. 


489 


these  cottages  are  of  wood,  built  in  quaint  style,  in  which  com- 
fort seems  to  have  been  more  sought  for  than  style.  There  is 
nearly  always  a  fine  gateway  which  opens  on  a  green.  Flowers 
abound  which  are  of  the  most  vivid  colors.  Russians,  at  least 
those  of  Moscow,  seem  to  revel  in  bright  colors,  and  their  houses, 
when  of  stucco,  allow  for  the  full  development  of  this  taste. 
The  quarter  of  the  nobility,  not  far  from  the  Kremlin,  partakes 
of  this  elegant  country  air,  for  these  habitations  are  more  like 
villas  than  town  residences.  Very  few  of  the  houses  are  more 
than  one  story  high.  This  want  of  elevation,  if  not  partaking 
of  the  grandiose,  imparts  rather  a  quaint  and  cozy  appearance. 
The  Kremlin  is  situated  on  a  hill,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  wall 
which  varies  in  height  from  forty  to  eighty  feet,  according  to 
the  rise  or  fall  of  the  ground.  This  wall  is  of  brick,  has  battle- 
ments on  it,  is  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  in  circumference, 
and  a  number  of  towers  stand  above  the  four  gateways.  As 
you  enter  the  Nicholsky  Gate,  which  is 'in  the  Gothic  style, 
you  notice  in  the  arch  a  famous  picture  of  St.  Nicholas  of 
Mojaisk.  This  wonderful  picture,  so  it  is  said,  is  endowed 
with  miraculous  powers.  When  Napoleon  (the  legend  tells) 
left  Moscow  in  disgust,  he  determined  to  wreak  his  ven- 
geance on  poor  St.  Nicholas.  Accordingly  he  had  a  barrel 
of  gunpowder  exploded  under  this  particular  picture.  Mar- 
velous to  relate,  though  the  powder  went  off,  neither  arch  nor 
picture  was  hurt.  For  this  reason,  no  Russian,  prince  or 
peasant,  passes  this  gate  or  approaches  the  picture  without 
paying  respect  to  St.  Nicholas.  After  passing  the  gateway, 
there  is  a  broad  space,  and  on  your  right  is  the  Arsenal,  and 
to  your  left  the  Government  offices.  In  the  Arsenal  are  stored 
an  innumerable  quantity  of  cannon,  mostly  trophies  taken 
from  the  French  in  their  retreat.  Walking  on,  you  rem  h 
the  esplanade,  which  commands  a  view  of  the  whole  city.  Now 
you  see  ranged  in  line  an  assemblage  of  the  most  remarka- 
ble buildings  that  the  eye  ever  witnessed.  It  takes  some  min- 
utes to  appreciate  them  in  all  their  grandeur.  Look  at  that 
tapering  tower  which  surmounts  yonder  gorgeous  gateway. 
No  one  can  pass  there,  not  even  the  Czar,  unless  his  head  be 


490 


RUSSIA. 


bared.  That  church  is  sacred  to  the  remains  of  the  daughters, 
wives,  and  mothers  of  the  imperial  family.  That  low  building 
is  one  of  the  many  churches.  Now  come,  as  you  scan  the  grand, 
imposing  frontage,  the  famous  towers  of  Ivan  Veliki,  whence 
resound   the  famous  bells.      Up    springs    the    great   cathedral, 

with  an  endless  sur- 
mounting of  golden 
domes  and  cupolas. 
Here  are  castellated 
walls,  towers  of  all 
makes  and  shapes,  and 
a  mass  of  buildings 
unrivaled  for  beauty. 
Adjectives  defining  the 
various  stages  of  hu- 
m  a  n  admiration  arc 
useless  when  used  to 
describe  the  Kremlin. 
The  Kremlin  is,  in- 
deed, one  of  the  last- 
ing impressions  a  trav- 
eler receives.  It  was 
grim  Boris  Godunoff, 
who,  after  murdering 
Demetrius,  built  this 
Ivan  Veliki  two  hundred  and  seventy  feet  high,  and  it  is  said 
swung  those  famous  bells.  The  bell  weighs  sixty  odd  tons, 
but  it  is  a  baby  bell  when  compared  with  the  monster  at  the 
foot  of  the  tower,  which  weighs  four  hundred  and  forty-four 
thousand  pounds.  It  is  broken,  it  is  true,  and  remains  mute, 
for  there  was  a  fire  once  in  the  tower,  and  the  bell  broke 
loose  and  fell  to  the  ground,  the  Tsar  Kolokol,  the  great  em- 
peror of  bells.  Looking  beyond,  along  that  line  of  wall,  is 
a  multitude  of  new  spires,  some  Gothic,  others  Tartar,  sur- 
mounted with  the  quaintest  weathercocks,  some  banner-like, 
others  like  eagles,  and  under  them  on  the  main  building 
there   rise  endless  galleries,   piled  tier    on   tier.      The   Bolshoi 


THE  KREMLIN. 


491 


Dvoretz  Palace  has  a  wealth  of  gorgeous  rooms,  and  a  mar- 
velous picture  gallery.  Within  the  Kremlin  there  are  palaces, 
churches,  an  arsenal,  and  Government  buildings.  It  is  a  mass 
of  magnificence,  semi-barbaric  il  you  please,  but  strange  and 
original.  As  Moscow  is  said  to  have  some  four  hundred 
churches,  great  and  small,  it 
would  be  impossible  to  de- 
scribe them.  From  the  Krem- 
lin can  be  counted  a  hundred 
and  sixty  towers  and  cupolas. 
The  religious  feeling  in  Russia 
seems  to  be  of  the  most  con- 
stant and  all-pervading  kind. 
That  Oriental  character  of 
belief,  which  was  before  in- 
dicated when  we  described  the 
Turk  or  Arab  as  prone  to 
follow  his  devotional  feelings, 
indifferent  as  to  place  or  sur- 
roundings, seems  to  find  its 
parallel  among  the  devotees 
of  the  Greek  Church.  The 
respect  paid  to  the  pictures  of  their  saints  is  universal.  Now  in 
Moscow,  in  the  Kitai  Quarter,  affixed  to  the  wall,  is  a  rather  poor 
illuminated  semblance  of  the  Virgin.  The  frame  is  a  much  better 
piece  of  art  than  the  picture.  No  one  passes  that  picture  thatdoes 
not  uncover  before  it,  and  the  greater  number  kneel  and  cross 
themselves.  It  is  not  only  the  foot  passengers  who  thus  show 
their  devotion,  but  even  the  higher  classes  who  ride  in  carriages. 
The  Twerskaia  is  the  .great  street  of  Moscow,  and  is  the 
entrance  of  the  city  from  the  St.  Petersburg  carriage-road  or 
chausscc.  Along  its  great  length  are  the  best  buildings,  the 
palaces  of  the  nobility,  and  the  finest  shops.  At  the  farthest 
end  of  the  Twerskaia  is  the  St.  Petersburg  Gate,  and  beyond 
that  a  large  open  space,  where  roads  branch  in  every  direction. 
Here  are  the  finest  drives  to  be  had  in  Moscow,  in  fact  it  is 
the  promenade  of  the  city.      Beyond  is  a  plain  on  which  soldiers 


I  II  UMN   Or   S1GISMUND   III. 


492 


RUSSIA. 


encamp.  Though  the  soldier  is  seen  and  felt  everywhere  in 
Russia,  though  a  prominent  place  is  given  to  those  wielding 
the  sword,  you  do  not  feel  his  presence  quite  as  marked  as  in 
Prussia.  Perhaps,  owing  to  the  late  Turkish  war,  the  bulk  of 
the  Russian  army  is  still  on  the  frontier. 

Following  the  promenade,  you  come  to  the  Petrossky 
Palace,  a  huge  brick  edifice,  of  mixed  architecture.  In  one  of 
the  rooms  of  this  palace  Napoleon  awaited  in  vain  for  the 
notables  of  the  conquered  city  to  humble  themselves  before 
him.  Would  they  come  and  sue  for  pardon  ?  Would  they 
bow  to  the  conqueror  ?  While  he  waited,  Moscow  was  in  a 
blaze,  and  to  escape  the  scorching  in  the  city,  the  French 
soldiers  went  out  to  be  frozen  amid  the  snows  of  a  Russian 
winter.  Around  the  Petrossky  Palace  spreads  the  Petrossky 
Park.  It  is  here  that  the  middle  classes  of  the  old  capital  come 
to  take  their  pleasure.  Under  these  trees,  in  the  pleasant  sum- 
mer time,  the  samovar  is  always  boiling,  and  endless  cups  of 
steaming  tea  are  taken.  It  is  pleasant  to  watch  the  groups  of 
people  enjoying  themselves  in  a  sensible  way,  and  to  see  the 
splendid  equipages  dashing  past  on  the  high  road. 

The  tarantass,  which  is,  perhaps,  the  national  carriage,  is 
decidedly  Russian  in  appearance.  It  has  no  springs,  is  four- 
wheeled,  and  is  something  like  a  wagon  or  phaeton.  To  it  are 
harnessed  three  horses,  all  abreast.  It  is  the  middle  beast  which 
is  in  the  shafts,  while  the  outside  horses  are  hooked  on  by 
splinter  bars.  Russians  are  generally  particular  as  to  colors  in 
horses,  and  assort  them  as  to  place  in  the  tarantass  ;  a  bay  or  a 
roan  takes  the  shafts,  while  the  outsiders  are  black  or  dun. 
The  middle  horse  trots,  while  his  mates  gallop.  There  is  a 
high  yoke  over  the  horse  in  shafts,  and  to  tin's  a  bell  or  series  of 
bells  is  suspended,  though  sometimes  both  outside  horses  have 
collars  with  small  bells.  There  is  something  exceedingly  ex- 
hilarating in  going  at  the  full  jump  behind  the  three  horses, 
one  at  a  good  trot,  and  the  others  at  a  rapid  gallop.  Strange 
to  say,  Russian  gentlemen  rarely  handle  the  ribbons  themselves. 
It  is  not  the  custom  of  the  better  classes  to  enjoy  the  great 
pleasure  of  driving. 


WARSAW. 


493 


The  Kitai  Gorod,  or  Chinese  Town,  is  something  like  the 
St.  Petersburg  bazaar.  The  expanse  covered  by  long  rows  of 
shops  is  immense.  It  is,  as  it  were,  a  city  devoted  to  trade, 
inside  of  another  city.  As  you  saunter  along,  you  will  no- 
tice that  the  merchants  do  not  seem  anxious  to  drive  bar- 
gains, and  are  not,  as  in  St.  Petersburg,  vociferous  for  a  trade. 
One  queer  thing  is  that  the  game  ot   draughts  seems  to  occupy 


v'\  ~^,  * <&* -,s-r 


so  much  of  their  atten- 
tion that  they  are  quite 
indifferent  to  business. 
After  General  Grant  had  spent  several  very  pleasant  and 
interesting  days  in  Moscow,  he  decided  to  take  the  railroad  for 
Warsaw  in  Russian  Poland.  Accordingly  the  party  started  on 
this  long  journey  of  six  hundred  miles,  which  was  accomplished 
without  much  fatigue.  The  country  between  Moscow  and  Po- 
land is  uninteresting,  being  very  like  that  south  of  St.  Petersburg. 


494  RUSSIA. 

Warsaw  is  a  gloomy  old  city,  elating  back  to  the  twelfth 
century.  It  is  in  Warsaw  that  the  memory  of  John  Sobieski, 
who  drove  the  Turk  from  the  walls  of  Vienna,  is  ever  kept 
fresh.  There  is  a  fine  monument  erected  to  him,  where  the 
Polish  hero  is  seated  on  a  horse,  which  rears  over  the  body  of 
a  prostrate  enemy.  After  resting  for  a  few  days,  the  General 
and  party  started  for  Vienna. 


►j 
& 

03 

W 
X 
h 

u 

35 
H 
& 

o 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


AUSTRIA    AND    FRANCE. 


)T  would  be  out  of  place  in  this  necessarily  brief  outline 
of  travel  to  enter  into  the  political  conditions  of  the 
countries  we  pass  through.  What  can  we  say,  how- 
ever, of  Poland  and  Warsaw  ?  We  are  forced  to  de- 
clare that  the  impression  left  on  our  minds  was  a  painful  one, 
and  that  when  passing  from  Poland  into  Austria,  there  was  a 
feeling  of  positive  relief.  One  could  not  help  thinking  that 
Poland  was  an  oppressed  country,  that  for  almost  a  century 
and  a  quarter  the  world  had  resounded  with  her  cries  of  grief. 
Sometimes  it  is  touching-  to  notice  the  turn  conversation  takes 
when  our  own  happier  home  conditions  are  talked  about.  Liber- 
ty is,  indeed,  a  precious  boon,  and  we  do  not  appreciate  it  at 
its  worth.  "We  cannot  speak  the  language  our  forefathers 
used."      So  the  Polish  gentleman  will  tell  you.      "  Our  children 

495 


496  AUSTRIA   AND   FRANCE. 

are  to  be  taught  certain  ideas  which  are  revolting  to  us.  It  is 
a  long-continued  misery  which  has  been  entailed  on  our  sires 
and  grandsires,  and  which  must  press  forever  on  our  grand- 
children. In  our  religion  we  are  Catholic  (for  all  the  old  Poles 
derive  their  religious  belief  from  the  French,  in  opposition  to 
the  Greek  Church).  We  neither  have  peace  at  home  nor  in  our 
churches." 

It  was  the  18th  of  August  when  we  reached  Vienna,  late  in 
the  evening.  At  the  station  we  were  met  by  the  United  States 
Minister,  Mr.  Kasson,  and  by  all  the  secretaries  and  attaches 
of  the  American  Legation.  A  larcre  number  of  our  fellow  citi- 
zens  were  there  also,  and  as  the  General  left  the  cars,  he  was 
loudly  cheered.  On  the  19th,  General  Grant  went  to  the 
American  Legation,  as  it  was  there  Count  Andrassy,  the  First 
Minister  of  the  Council,  was  to  receive  him.  It  is  quite  well 
understood  that,  by  diplomatic  license,  the  legation  of  any 
Government  is  supposed  to  represent  the  soil  of  that  country- 
Count  Andrassy  was  attended  by  many  of  the  leading  states- 
men. An  acquaintance  with  the  Count  was  soon  made,  and  an 
hour  or  more  passed  in  agreeable  conversation.  In  the  even- 
insf  General  Grant  dined  at  the  Countess  Andrassv's,  and  Mrs. 
Grant  was  the  guest  of  Mrs.  Post.  On  the  20th  there  was  an 
audience  with  his  Imperial  Highness  Francis  Joseph.  This 
reception  took  place  at  the  Palace  of  Schoenbrunn.  On  the 
2 1  st  the  General  and  Mrs.  Grant  were  guests  of  the  impe- 
rial family,  and  dined  with  them  in  the  evening.  Prior  to 
the  dinner  Baron  Steinburg  accompanied  the  General  to  the 
Arsenal,  where  the  fullest  explanations  were  made  of  all  the 
new  Austrian  improvements  in  artillery.  A  grand  diplomatic 
dinner  was    mven    on    t_nc    22d,  by   the   American  Minister.      At 


to 


y 


this  banquet  the  guests  included  all  the  ambassadors  of  the 
foreign  powers.  In  the  evening  a  reception  and  ball  took 
place,  when  the  representatives  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  Cabi- 
net were  present,  and  the  rooms  were  thronged  by  the  most 
distinguished  people  in  \  ienna. 

When  we  were  journeying  north,  we  were  told  that  I  lamburg 
was  the   most  pleasant  of  cities,  but  as  we  were   tending  south- 


VIENNA. 


497 


erly,  we  heard  on  all  sides  "that  Vienna  was,  indeed,  the  true 
Paris  of  Southern  Europe."  Certainly  no  place  has  the  same 
traits  as  Paris,  but  in  that  open-air  life,  which  does  not  exist 
save  in  the  country,  it  quite  surpasses  the  French  capital.  It 
is  a  most  aristocratic  city.  You  may,  if  you  will,  by  work- 
ing hard  enough  and  having  plenty  of  money  at  your  disposal, 
get  into  the  best  society  in  Paris,  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain  if 
you  please  ;  but  it  is  quite  a  different  thing  in  Vienna.  The 
higher  circles  of  the  nobility  are  unapproachable.  The  old 
prestige  of  the  Austrian  noble  still  exercises  its  peculiar  privi- 
leges,  and  recalls  the    exclusive  times  of  Maria  Louisa,  and  of 


THK    VILLAGE  CKoSS- 


Kaunitz.  There  are  habits  and  customs  which  hedge  around  the 
Austrian  higher  classes,  whose  boast  is  to  have  genealogies  dat- 
ing from  antediluvian  times.  Commercial  aristocracy  of  course 
is  to  be  found  in  Vienna,  men  of  the  present  day,  who  have 
brought  their  brains  to  their  aid  ;  but  still,  as  you  will  very  soon 
discover,  between  such  men  enriched  by  trade,  and  the  old  regime, 
there  is  hardly  any  intercourse.  Vienna  is  undergoing  changes 
which  have  been  very  rapid,  and  which  are  partly  clue  to  the 
late  International  Exhibition.  Forty  years  ago,  when  Austria 
had  Metternich  for  its  guiding  spirit,  to  have  made  Vienna  the 
center  of  an  exhibition  would  have  been,  in  that  antiquated 
statesman's  eyes,  the  same  thing  as  if  some  one  had  offered  to 


498 


AUSTRIA   AND   FRANCE. 


introduce   the  plague,   or  invite  a  club  of  republicans  to  hold 
their  sittings  in  the  city. 

As  you  enter  Vienna  from  the  station  and  cross  the  Ring- 
Strasse,  or  circular  boulevard,  you  find  a  new  city  as  fresh  as 
an  American  town.  Here  are  magnificent  streets,  crowded  with 
superb  shops,  finer,  indeed,  than  we'  have  seen  anywhere,  Paris 
not  excepted.  Some  controlling  thought  has  apparently  guided 
the  architects,  for  the  appearance  of  these  new  quarters  is  both 
harmonious  and  pleasing.  All  these  immense  ranges  of  build- 
ings are  due  to  joint-stock  associations,  who  went  mad  just  be- 
fore the  Exhibition,  and  the  collapse  of  these  enterprises  brought 
ruin  on  many.  Still,  as  we  do  not  see  the  trouble  which  has 
ensued  from  these  speculations,  we  only  look  at  and  admire  the 
results.  We  are  comfortably  ensconced  in  a  hotel  which  is 
quite  sumptuous,  and  we  regale  ourselves  with  the  delights  of 
the  Austrian  cuisine.  We  are  even  inclined  to  think  that  there 
are  no  better  cooks  than  those  found  in  Vienna. 

Our  first  visit  was  to  the  imperial  summer  residence,  the 
Schonbrunn  Palace,  which  is  situated  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
city,  surrounded  by  elegant  gardens  and  green  woods.  We 
wandered  through  the  many  handsome  apartments  of  this 
"  Palace  of  the  Beautiful  Fountain,"  recalling  the  remembrance 
of  the  Due  de  Reichstadt,  who,  as  a  child,  may  have  lived  in 
some  of  these  great  rooms,  and  pondered  there  over  the  tall  ot 
his  father.  As  we  leave  the  palace  we  stroll  through  the  gar- 
dens, and  can  only  compare  them  with  those  of  Versailles. 

This  morning  we  visited  the  Stephanplatz,  where  stands  the 
famous  Church  of  St.  Stephans,  and  the  Archbishop's  Palace, 
and  strolled  across  the  Danube  and  into  the  Prater,  the  grand 
park  of  Vienna.  This  beautiful  park  has  a  superb  avenue  lined 
with  trees,  called  the  Prater  Allee.  It  is  about  two  and  a  half 
miles  long,  and  is  the  great  drive  for  the  upper  classes.  At 
one  side  of  this  carriage-road  are  the  coffee  houses,  restaurants, 
music  halls,  etc.  This  part  of  the  Prater  is  chiefly  frequented 
by  the  poorer  people. 

The  military  element  is  visible  everywhere,  and  soldiers 
dressed  in  light-colored  uniforms  may  be  seen  in  every  neigh- 


AUSTRIA. 


499 


borhood.  Nothing  can  be  more  jaunty  than  an  Austrian  lieu- 
tenant or  captain.  Possibly,  not  excluding  your  swell  English 
guardsman,  the  Austrian  officer  is  the  greatest  military  dandy 
in  the  world.  Notwithstanding  their  rather  exquisite  appear- 
ance, we  found  them  to  be  most  courteous  and  oblieine,  and 
very  thoroughly  informed.  Unfortunately  for  Austria  she  has 
had  full  need  of  her  soldiers  for  the  last  thirty  years.  As  far 
as   the  inventive  military  art  goes   the  Austrian   officer  holds 


R1NG-STRASSE   (BuL'LEVAKL 


a  distinguished  place,  and  the  discoveries  of  General  Uchatius, 
especially  in  artillery,  are  of  the  most  remarkable  kind.  It 
is  certainly  within  the  memory  of  many  when  Austrian  and 
Hungarian  were  at  daggers  drawn.  Thanks  to  a  wise  and 
generous  policy,  one  of  forgiveness  and  forgetfulness,  Austria 
is  stronger  by  the  love  of  her  Hungarian  population  than  she 
ever  has  been  before.  The  early  misfortunes  which  met 
the  present  emperor  were  not  lessons  lost  on  him.  With 
her  Italian  provinces  gone,  Austria  has  gained  new  life,  and 
she  has  to-day  the  respect  and  sympathy  of  all   Europe.      It 


5oo 


AUSTRIA   AND  FRANCE. 


was  pleasant  to  hear  on  all  sides  the  love  expressed  for  the 
Emperor,  and  to  listen  to  the  many  stories  told  of  his  kindnesses. 
The  Viennese  have  an  intense  love  for  music.  Is  not  Vienna 
the  city  sacred  to  the  waltz  and  to  Strauss  ?  You  hear  music  on 
every  side.  In  the  streets,  in  the  public  places,  military  bands 
are  performing  in  the  most  delightful  manner.  In  fact,  we  float 
along  on  music.  The  Opera  House  is  second  to  none,  and 
from  Vienna,  as  a  hot-bed,  spring  forth  all  the  year  round  crops 
of  sopranos,  contraltos,  tenors,  and  bassos,  who  go  hence  for  their 
tour  around  the  musical  world.  Vienna  was  the  home  of  the 
great  Mozart.      Beethoven,  too,  did  the  most  of  his  work  here. 

In  the  Viennese  population,  the  Jew  forms  a  large  propor- 
tion. The  Israelite  may  be  seen  occupying  very  extensively 
the  profession  of  street  peddler.  In  Germany,  generally,  the 
social  condition  of  the  Jew,  his  place  among  his  fellows,  is  not  a 
flattering  one.  When  he  arrives  at  great  wealth,  the  power 
which  money  brings  is  even  then  grudgingly  accorded  to  him. 
There  is  a  feeling  of  religious  prejudice  existing  in  the  German 
mind  which  seems  difficult  to  eradicate.  Austria  is  devoutly 
Catholic,  though  of  late  years  Unitarianism  has  made  great 
progress.  Education  is  making  rapid  strides,  and  to  know  how 
to  read  and  write  becomes  a  necessity,  for  there  is  a  rather  ar- 
bitrary law  which  prohibits  any  one  from  marrying  who  cannot 
read  and  write.  Fancy  how  oppressive  must  be  a  dictum  of 
this  kind.  Still  it  may  have  its  touching  side,  for  we  can  ima- 
gine some  pretty  Austrian  peasant  girl,  well  versed  in  her  A, 
B,  C's,  teaching  her  swain  all  the  mysteries  of  the  spelling 
book  so  that  he  may  gain  her  hand  in  wedlock. 

Amone  the  most  delightful  of  our  visits  was  one  to  Baden, 
fourteen  miles  from  the  city  and  about  half  way  to  Voslau. 
Baden,  as  its  name  designates,  is  a  place  for  bathing.  Springs 
abound,  and  the  water  is  at  a  very  high  temperature. 

For  once  the  General  was  forced  by  many  courtesies  to  ex- 
tend his  stay  some  days  over  the  date  fixed  for  our  departure. 
None  of  us  regretted  this  delay,  for  Vienna  is  a  city  fitted  for 
those  who  feel  like  indulging  in  a  little  rest. 

But  our  time  has  come,  and  we  hear  imperative  commands 


Ml  'NICH. 


50I 


for  departure.  We  shall  take  a  direct  route  for  Switzerland, 
visiting  .Munich  on  the  way,  and  then  go  southerly  through  the 
wine  country  of  La  Belle  France,  and,  touching  at  Bordeaux, 
go  thence  to  Spain.  If  we  have  an  Athens  in  America,  so  has 
Germany;  and  this  Teutonic  Athens,  this  center  of  art,  is 
called  Munich.  Now  the  Bavarian  has  certain  peculiar  charac- 
teristics which  are  not  in  the  least  aesthetic.  Old  Munich  struck 
us  as  being,  at  least  in   certain   portions,   more  pervaded  with 


THE  ol'EKA    HOUSE — VIENNA. 


the  Middle  Age  feeling  than  any  other  city  we  had  visited. 
There  are  perched  on  old,  venerable  houses  many  of  those 
peculiar  turrets  and  quaintly  shaped  appendices  which  realistic 
painters  introduce  into  medieval  art.  The  Ludwigs-Strasse  is 
the  pride  of  Munich,  and,  in  the  estimation  of  the  Bavarian, 
is  the  rival  of  the  Unter  den  Linden,  Berlin.  It  is  a  superb 
street,  flanked  on  both  sides  by  fine  houses.  The  general  ap- 
pearance of  the  city,  that  is  the  newer  portion,  is  quite  compo- 
site. Stimulated  by  an  artistic  sovereign,  the  architects  have 
constructed  houses  in  all  varieties  of  architecture,  and  this  vari- 


r02  AUSTRIA    AND   FRANCE. 

ety  gives  a  very  pleasing  and  picturesque  character  to  the 
streets. 

Munich  is  famous  throughout  the  world  for  its  sparkling 
beer,  and  it  is  certainly  an  excellent  beverage,  though  the 
method  of  serving  it  in  some  of  the  leading  places  must  entail 
an  amount  of  labor  to  the  thirsty  man  which  only  an  enthusi- 
astic beer-drinker  would  undergo.  In  the  large  brewery,  the 
Royaline,  you  have  to  find  your  own  glass,  and  then  fight  your 
way  to  the  bar,  in  order  to  have  it  filled.  Life  in  a  beer  house 
is  of  a  peculiar  kind.  Before  the  same  table  may  be  found  men 
of  various  degrees,  the  gentleman  and  the  workman,  the  uni- 
versity professor  and  the  student.  Beer  seems  to  flow  like 
water.  We  have  not,  however,  seen  any  one  tipsy.  It  must, 
indeed,  take  a  flood  of  beer  to  have  the  least  effect  on  a  citizen 
of  Munich.  Beer  is  so  important  a  factor  in  the  capital  of  Ba- 
varia, that  the  augmentation  of  its  price  would  quite  likely  lead 
to  serious  disturbances.  To  show  the  importance  of  this  indus- 
try, in  a  population  of  not  quite  five  millions,  there  are  fully  ten 
thousand  persons  engaged  in  its  manufacture.  Perhaps  it  is 
this  great  consumption  that  makes  the  men  of  Munich  so  round, 
fat,  and  jolly.  Each  nation  has  its  peculiarities,  and  Bavaria 
is  held  in  Germany  as  a  country  where  the  people  are  the  least 
likely  to  change,  and  where  materialism  holds  its  sway.  It  a 
story  is  told  in  Germany,  where  a  particular  person  is  made  the 
object  of  a  jest,  it  is  generally  on  a  Bavarian  that  the  joke  is 
perpetrated.  King  Louis,  with  a  great  aesthetic  purpose,  has 
so  shaped  Munich  that  it  is  the  art  center  of  Germany. 

Augsburo-,  the  second  town  of  Bavaria,  has  all  the  pecu- 
liarity of  an  antiquated  city.  Its  many  large  dwelling-houses 
are  evidences  of  the  wealth,  in  former  days,  of  its  citizens,  who 
were  merchant  princes,  managing  the  exchanges  of  Europe. 
The  old  Episcopal  Palace  remains,  in  the  hall  of  which  the 
Protestant  Declaration  of  Faith  ("The  Confession  of  Augs- 
burg") was  drawn  up  by  Luther  and  Melancthon.  The  palace 
is  now  devoted  to  public  business.  Though  the  greatness  of 
Augsburg  has  departed,  the  city  still  contains  about  fifty  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  and  issues  one  of  the  most  celebrated  journals 


SCHAFFI/A  [/SEN. 


503 


in  the  world,  t\\e  Algcmciiic  Zcitung.  From  Augsburg  the  rail- 
road takes  us  to  Ulm,  on  the  Danube,  at  its  entrance  into  Ba- 
varia. It  was  here,  in  1805,  that  General  Mack,  with  the  entire 
Austrian  army  under  his  command,  ingloriously  surrendered  to 
Napoleon,  without  striking  a  blow.  The  old  cathedral,  now 
devoted  to  Protestantism,  which  was  founded  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  is  still  uncompleted.  At  Schaffhausen,  one  of  the 
oldest  towns  in  Switzerland,  situated  on   the   north  bank  of  the 


■  WW 


Rhine,  a  short  distance  above  the  celebrated  Schaffhausen 
Falls,  we  stopped  long  enough  to  note  that  it  was  a  very  pictu- 
resque old  place,  with  its  narrow  streets,  turreted  gateways,  and 
oriel  windows.  The  feudal  castle  of  Unnob,  planned,  it  is  said, 
by  Albrecht  Diirer,  on  a  height  commanding  the  town,  is  still 
capable  of  being  used  for  purposes  of  defense. 

Besancon,  the  first  important  French  town  on  our  route,  is  a 
thriving  place,  and  its  situation  on  the  Daubs  is  surprisingly 
lovely.  It  has  been  Roman,  Burgundian,  Arlesian,  Anglo- 
French,  and  even  Spanish;  all  these  different  investitures  can  be 


r04  AUSTRIA   AND  FRANCE. 

traced  architecturally.  Besancon  is  noted  for  its  watches.  This 
business  came  into  France  like  silk-weavingf  into  England. 
Some  honest  Swiss  watchmakers  were  driven  out  of  their  coun- 
try for  their  religion,  just  as  the  French  were  expelled  under  the 
Edict  of  Nantes.  In  time  the  Swiss  built  up  a  great  industry, 
until  to-clay  it  is  said  that  for  every  one  hundred  watches  sold 
in  France  ninety  are  of  Besancon  make.  Victor  Hugo  was  born 
here  in  1802.  At  the  end  of  our  third  day's  journey  we  reached 
Lyons,  the  great  silk  manufacturing  city  of  France.  This  city 
bears  but  faintly  the  characteristics  of  a  town  whose  wealth 
comes  from  the  products  of  the  loom.  The  factory  system,  as 
it  is  found  with  us  in  America,  does  not  exist.  There  are  no 
crowds  of  workmen  going  to  and  from  their  labors.  The  Lyons 
workmen  tend  their  looms  at  home,  the  manufacturers  furnish- 
ing them  with  the  materials,  so  that  all  the  weaving  is  done  in 
their  own  rooms.  On  inquiry  we  find  that  business  is  by  no 
means  lively,  and  that  something  like  stagnation  exists  among 
the  thirty  thousand  workmen.  The  condition  of  affairs  seems  to 
be  somewhat  as  follows,  as  far  as  the  American  market  is  con- 
cerned :  We  are  making  our  silk  goods  at  home.  Now,  Lyons 
could  fight  it  out  awhile  with  England  ;  but,  with  America  and 
England  making  their  own  silks,  the  major  portion  of  the 
foreign  trade  is  cut  off.  As  to  the  taste  and  great  judgment 
displayed  in  the  designs  and  colors  of  the  goods,  fancy  silks 
form  but  a  small  proportion  of  the  business.  It  is  plain  black 
which  is  the  staple  article,  and  on  which  the  trade  is  based. 
American  machinery — the  power  of  Yankee  ingenuity — has  told 
in  the  working  of  the  looms,  and  processes  of  manufacture  have 
been  more  rapid.  As  to  the  excellence  of  the  designs,  as  brains 
always  go  to  the  places  where  they  are  best  paid,  undoubtedly 
many  of  the  leading  French  artists,  who  made  those  exquisite 
patterns,  have  found  remunerative  positions  in  the  United 
States. 

Long  trails  of  smoke  from  numerous  tall  chimneys,  trains 
full  of  coal,  and  a  general  business-like  appearance  on  the  road, 
advise  us  that  we  are  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  great  manu- 
facturing town.      Soon  we  reach  St.  Etienne,  which  is  the  Leeds 


£> 


VICHY. 


505 


or  the  Sheffield  of  France,  and  at  the  same  time  something  of  a 
Coventry,  for  this  city  produces  not  only  steelware,  cutler)-,  and 
firearms,  but  in  addition  ribbons.  A  St.  Etienne  knife  or  razor 
has  always  a  great  reputation,  and  hen-  the  greater  proportion 
of  arms  used  in  the  French  service  are  made,  so  that  in  some 
respects  it  resembles  our 
Springfield.  After  Lyons, 
this  was  the  first  French 
manufacturing  town  of 
any  importance  we  had 
visited.  The  greatest 
order  and  system  were 
evident  in  the  shops.  The 
paternal  care  of  the  Go- 
vernment is  quite  appa- 
rent. France  always 
steps  in,  when  she  can  do 
anything    toward   advan- 


cing the  education  of  her 


STREET   IN    AL'GSBURC. 


workmen.  There  are 
numerous  schools  for  me- 
chanics at  St.  Etienne, 
where  metallurgy  and  the 
fine  arts  are  acquired. 
The  great  distinction  which  exists  between  French  and  other 
manufactures  is  evident  in  the  taste  displayed.  To  keep  up 
this  superiority,  France  exerts  herself  to  the  utmost,  and 
attains  her  point,  by  giving  an  artistic  training  to  her  work- 
men. 

We  are  glad  to  have  the  opportunity  of  visiting  Vichy,  the 
thermal  springs  not  only  of  France,  but  of  all  Europe.  It  is 
hardly  like  Baden-Baden,  for  though  Vichy  attracts  many  people, 
its  gayety  is  less  thought  about  than  the  curative  quality  of  the 
water.  The  establishments  around  the  springs  are  admirable, 
and  the  casino  is  one  of  the  handsomest  buildings  we  have 
seen..  But  time  was  short,  and  after  a  brief  stay  we  were  on 
our  way  once   more.     Taking   the   rail   again,  passing  through 


506  AUSTRIA  AND   FRANCE. 


Gannat,  and  Montlucon,  we  arrived  at  Limoges.  This  is  an- 
other manufacturing  center,  known  to  us  as  the  place  where 
enameled  ware  was  first  made.  We  pass  through  Limoges, 
and  make  a  short  halt  at  Perigueux,  the  chief  town  in  the  De- 
partment of  Dordogne.  We  are  interested  in  this  old  place,  and 
see  the  monuments  erected  to  the  memory  of  the  good  Fenelon, 
and  to  that  somewhat  bitter  essayist,  Montaigne.  It  is  not  an 
easy  task  to  describe  the  characteristics  of  these  sleepy  old 
French  towns.  Things  are  quite  possibly  done  to-day  as  they 
were  two  or  three  hundred  years  ago.  There  never  is  much 
bustle  save  on  a  market  day,  or  when  a  festival  takes  place. 
People  live  and  die  in  peace  and  contentment,  and,  with  but  few 
wants,  and  free  from  excitements,  far  from  the  bewilderments 
and  agitations  of  the  feverish  capital,  their  life  is  one  of  per- 
fect repose.  A  French  Rip  Van  Winkle  might  take  his  sleep 
here,  and  on  awaking  not  receive  a  shock.  France  has  an 
enormous  population  of  what  are  called  petits  rentiers,  or  peo- 
ple who,  having  invested  in  the  public  securities,  live  on  a 
very  moderate  income.  In  addition  to  this  class,  she  has  in- 
numerable pensioners,  who,  having  served  the  state  all  their 
lives,  in  their  old  age  subsist  on  some  small  pension  their 
country  grants  them.  These  two  classes  find  in  provincial 
life,  which  is  inexpensive,  exactly  that  haven  of  rest  which  they 
wish  for.  We  thought,  too,  that  for  those  who  had  seen  the 
storms  of  existence  and  had  been  tired  of  them,  these  old,  som- 
nolescent  towns  would  make  delightful  harbors  of  refuge.  In 
some  of  these  towns  we  heard  of  people  who,  having  been  born 
there,  had  gone  early  in  life  to  America,  where  for  years  they 
had  striven  and  toiled  and  put  aside  their  money,  until  having 
acquired  a  sufficiency,  they  had  returned  to  France,  and  sought 
once  more  their  beloved  old  home,  trusting  to  spend  the  re- 
mainder of  their  clays  in  peace  and  happiness. 

On  our  way  to  Bordeaux,  through  the  wine  country,  I  can 
only  group  my  impressions  as  follows  : 

Here  is  true,  delightful  happiness,  the  real  poetry  of  travel. 
Pleasant  little  rivers  glide  quietly  by.  Long  lines  of  trees 
designate   the   public   roads,  for   they  extend    away   across   the 


FRENCH  AGRICULTURE. 


507 


horizon  in  one  straight  course,  and  do  not  turn  for  hill  or  eleva- 
tion. Here  are  broad  fields,  and  beyond  the  woods  starts  the 
village  church,  an  old  building1  which  has  been  devoted  to  God 
for  the  last  five  hundred  years.  Along  the  line  of  railroad  are 
handsome  villas,  with  extended  fields  all  planted  with  the  vine. 
It  must  be  a  wonderfully  rich  and  thrifty  country,  and  the  cul- 
ture must  needs  be  very  thorough.      We  have  heard  of  the  ex- 


cellence of  peasant 
tillage,  and  the  devo- 
tion the  FYench  agri- 
culturist has  for  his 
soil.  Small  patches 
of  land,  shreds  of  mo- 
ther earth  of  not  more  13* 
than     two     or     three 

acres,  are  not  as  common  in  the  southern  as  in  the  northern  pro- 
vinces. Most  of  these  broad  lands  belong  to  single  proprietors. 
On  inquiring,  however,  we  find  that  the  division  of  the  soil,  this 
tendency  to  split  up  the  land  into  small  parcels,  is  commencing. 
Poverty  seems  to  be  rare,  and  as  to  class  distinctions,  although  the 


5o8 


AUSTRIA   AND   FRANCE. 


dress  shows  it  in  some  small  degree,  that  disposition  to  bow, 
cringe,  and  scrape  that  we  have  seen  elsewhere  we  no  longer 
notice.  It  is  a  rich  country,  and  although  the  crops  have  been 
deficient  for  the  last  few  years,  still  people  have  got  along.  The 
improvement  in  French  agriculture  has  been  rapid.  When  a 
famous  English  agriculturalist,  before  the  first  Revolution,  de- 
scribed France  as  a  country  tilled  by  beggars,  who  starved  on 
the  wretched  products  they  raised,  he  may  have  told  the  truth. 
Ever  since  1830  science  has  done  wonders  for  France  and  her 
soil.  That  education  which  has  permeated  all  ranks  has  even 
reached  the  peasant  class.  The  laborer  has  carried  his  newly 
acquired  intelligence  into  the  culture  of  the  soil.  The  one  great 
trait  of  the  French  peasant  is  his  untiring  industry,  and  perhaps 
never  did  men  or  women  work  so  hard  and  continuously.  Early 
and  late  they  are  in  the  fields.  The  very  trees  and  orchards  we 
pass  evince  the  care  bestowed  on  them.  Pears  are  just  ripening 
with  the  grapes,  and  the  taste  of  the  French  woman  is  shown  as 
she  hands  us  a  basket  which  is  arranged  with  artistic  skill.  Here 
are  apricots  the  like  of  which  we  have  never  seen  before.  As 
we  pass  rapidly  along  this  finely  cultivated  country,  a  succes- 
sion of  beautiful  prospects  unfold  themselves  before  our  eyes. 
There  is  a  rich  hill,  and  on  top  is  a  ruin,  an  old  castle,  which 
has  escaped  becoming  notorious  in  the  guide  book.  Up  to  the 
very  broken  and  crumbling  walls,  the  hillside  is  cultivated,  and 
in  and  out  of  the  vines  we  see  women  and  girls  plucking  the 
grapes.  Alongside  of  the  road  are  large  wagons  to  which 
dun-colored  oxen  are  attached.  In  other  fields  colza  has  been 
grown,  and  we  see  Indian  corn,  with  its  long  green  leaves 
suggesting  home,  and  fields  filled  with  withered  plants,  ugly 
thickets,  attract  our  attention.  We  are  told  that  they  are 
poppies,  and  that  the  most  beautiful  of  all  things  is  to  see  a 
poppy  field  in  its  full  blaze  of  color.  The  poppy  is  not  grown 
for  its  narcotic  principle,  but  for  oil.  Perhaps  we  use  poppy 
oil  in  the  United  States  on  salads,  and  do  not  know  its  origin. 
All  the  hills,  when  steep,  are  terraced  up  to  their  crests,  and 
covered  with  the  vine.  The  hills  shine  in  the  sun,  caused  by 
the  mica  found   in   the  soil.      The  wine  from  this  broad   region 


FRANCE. 


5°9 


goes  both  to  Bordeaux  and  Marseilles,  and  some  of  the  vine- 
yards we  pass  are  world-famous  for  their  products.  A  love 
for  flowers  seems  to  belong  to  these  people  of  Southern  France, 
for  all  the  plants  that  can  possibly  bloom  exhale  their  fragrance. 
It  is,  however,  farther  south  that  flowers  are  grown  as  a  source 
from  whence  commercial   perfumes  are  derived.      We  pass  by 


some  small  village,  name  un- 
known, and  can  see  crowds  of 
people  on  the  green.  There 
are  tents  and  booths,  and  we 
hear  but  indistinctly  the  beat- 
ing of  drums  and  the  squeak- 
ing of  clarionets.  It  is  a  fair, 
and  all  the  villagers  are  flocking 
to  the  neighborhood.  There  must  be  great  wealth  there  of  gay 
ribbons.  It  is  a  festival  held  just  before  the  vintage,  but  the  more 
important  fairs  take  place  earlier  and  later  in  the  season.  We 
notice  farmers  and  their  wives  on  horseback.  There  is  a  wo- 
man on  a  pillion,  and  a  pair  of  contented  people  are  riding  on 
the   same  horse.     The  woman   is  seated  on  a  kind  of  a  chair 


5io 


AUSTRIA   AND  FRANCE. 


before,  and  the  man,  who  is  behind,  has  gallantly  passed  his  hand 
around  his  companion's  waist.  The  women  wear  white  linen 
caps,  but  not  of  the  Norman  form.  We  are  told  that  although 
manners  are  still  unchanged,  there  have  been  some  transforma- 
tions in  costumes  within  the  last  ten  years,  more  especially 
among  the  women.  This  is  quite  natural,  for  although  the  fe- 
male sex  ma)r  be  conservative  in  many  things,  they  are  sure  to 
change  in  the  fashion  of  their  dress.  At  a  station  we  have  full 
opportunity  of  seeing  a  group  of  women  and  girls  clad  in  true 
peasant  costume  which  was  certainly  handsome.  The  bodice 
was  of  black  stuff,  the  skirt  of  gray,  with  the  arms  encased  in  wide, 
bulging,  snow-white  sleeves,  and  they  wore  black  velvet  caps 
from  which  hung  ribbons  of  various  colors  ;  around  their  necks 
were  chains  with  old-fashioned  crosses  pendent  to  them.  Laugh- 
ing and  chattering,  they  were  making  the  place  resound  with 
their  voices.  They  are  bound  to  some  vineyards  off  the  line  of 
the  road,  where  they  are  engaged  to  pick  grapes.  We  are  in- 
formed that  we  are  seeing  this  part  of  France  at  its  best,  for 
the  time  of  vintage  is  one  of  pleasure.  Americans  and  travelers 
in  general  rarely  see  anything  in  France  save  Paris,  but  outside 
of  that  feverish  capital  there  is  many  an  interesting  page  to  be 
written  on  French  country  life.  Many  questions  are  asked  re- 
garding the  California  wine  country,  our  methods  of  cultivation, 
and  the  quality  of  the  wines.  We  are  told  that  some  of  the 
people  who  had  been  bred  as  vignerons  in  these  provinces  were 
anxious  to  carry  out  their  calling"  in  the  West,  having  had  won- 
derful stories  told  them  of  the  productiveness  of  our  Pacific  coast. 
The  wages  paid  the  grape-gatherers  are  from  fifteen  sous  to  one 
franc  per  day,  and  found.  The  women  and  girls  are  called  coitpcurs 
or  cutters;  they  go  through  the  vines  and  clip  the  bunches. 
Following  them,  and  not  far  distant,  are  men  and  women  with 
baskets  on  their  backs,  who  pick  up  the  severed  bunches  and 
carry  them  to  the  ox-carts.  These  hotte  or  basket  carriers  will 
take  a  tremendous  load  on  their  backs,  and  trot  along  rapidly. 
In  the  ox-carts  the  grapes  are  thrown  into  casks,  and  closely 
packed.  To  every  twelve  grape-cutters  there  are  two  basket- 
men,  all  of  them  under  charge  of  a  superintendent.      About  this 


THE    VINTAGE. 


511 


number  of  people  will  tend  the  vintage  of  two  and  a  half  acres. 
The  pressing  of  the  grapes  is  a  very  simple  operation.  As  the 
grapes  are  brought  to  the  press  they  are  picked  from  the  stems, 
cleared  of  leaves,  and  spread  on  a  platform  about  twelve  feet 
square,  the  sides  of  which  can  be  built  up  to  any  desired  height. 


The  bottom  of  this  movable 
box  is  perforated,  and  above  it 
is  a  heavy  block  of  wood  which 
can  be  depressed  by  means 
of  a  w  o  o  d  e  n  screw.  The 
fluid,  red  as  blood,  spurts  out, 
and  is  caught  in  tubs  which  are 
placed  below.  The  whole  ma- 
chinery is  very  simple,  and  some  of  us  thought  that  with  less  out- 
lay of  power  much  more  satisfactory  results  might  be  obtained. 
If  during  this  rapid  trip  we  had  been  willing  to  taste  only  a  frac- 
tional portion  of  the  vintage  of  France  which  kind  hospitality 
offered  us,  we  would  not  have  lived  to  tell  the  story  of  our 
travels.  We  remember  that  whenever  wine  was  presented  to 
us   for  approval  we  were   invariably  told    "  that   it   was   milder 


^12  AUSTRIA   AND  FRANCE. 

than   mother's  milk;   and  that  as  to  a  headache,  such  a  thino- 
could  not  be  if  we  should  drink  litres  of  it." 

Our  destination  is  Bordeaux,  and  all  along  the  route  we 
hear  of  this  great  maritime  city.  With  Havre  and  Marseilles 
Bordeaux  shares  French  commerce.  From  this  city  there  pour 
out  floods  of  wine  which  quench  human  thirst  in  all  quarters 
of  the  globe.  Bordeaux  to-day  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque 
and  animated  places  in  France.  For  nearly  three  miles,  ex- 
tending along  the  left  bank  of  the  Garonne  in  one  long-  ben 


"&  "«"■■£, 


a. 


are  the  quays.  The  Garonne  is  a  deep  river,  so  that  vessels  of 
over  a  thousand  tons  can  be  accommodated  at  all  points  along 
its  quay.  On  the  other  side  of  the  river  there  is  a  beautiful 
country  adorned  with  wooded  slopes,  vineyards,  and  charming 
villas.  Bordeaux,  like  many  European  cities,  is  double,  that  is, 
there  is  an  old  and  a  new  town.  The  ancient  city  abounds  in 
narrow  streets  flanked  by  strange  old  rookeries,  while  the  newer 
portion  rivals  Paris  in  the  beauty  of  its  buildings.  It  is  a  rich 
city,  and  prosperity  reigns.  It  is  the  center  of  large  manufac- 
tures, and  the  products  of  Bordeaux  and  the  South  of  France 
are  shipped  hence  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  It  was  most  plea- 
sant for  us  to  see  a  number  of  American  ships  in  the  river,  all 
flying  their  colors  in  honor  of  General  Grant.  Among  the 
great  objects  of  interest  in  this  city  are  its  wine  cellars.  Into 
one  of  these  cellars  we  were  escorted  by  the  members  of  a  firm 
whose  wines  are  known  the  world  around.  It  was  a  vast  wil- 
derness of  vaulted  chambers,  filled  with  hogsheads  and  casks, 
and  endless  shelves  upon  which  bottles  of  wine  were  stored. 
We  were  told  that  there  were  placed  here  some  twelve  thou- 
sand hogsheads  of  fine  wines,  and  that  over  three  quarters  of  a 
million  bottles  were  generally  held  in  stock.  Here  was  good 
liquor  enough,  Medoc,  Chateau  Margaux,  La  Tuer,  La  Fitte, 
with  Sauterne  and  Yquem  sufficient  to  float  a  man-of-war.  We 
asked,  "What  kind  of  wine  goes  to  America?  "  and  were  told  that 
"up  to  i860,  America  drank  very  good  wines,  that  during  the 
civil  war  our  taste  deteriorated,  but  that  for  the  last  six  years  we 
were  buying  the  finer  grades  again."  We  ventured  to  advance 
the  idea  that  French  wines  had  to  be  better,  because  the  pro- 


I 


a! 


BORDEAl  \. 


:>'3 


ducts  of  the  Garonne  would  now  enter  into  competition  with 
the  California  vintage.  The  reply  was  that  "  Bordeaux  could 
only  produce  a  certain  quantity  of  really  choice  wines,  and  that 
the  demand  had  been  for  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  always  in 
advance  of  the  supply."  How,  then,  account  for  the  oceans  of 
so-called  French  wines,  with  elegant  labels  and  fabulous  prices, 
which  are  dispensed  throughout  the  United  States?  We  were 
told  that  there  was  a  place  in  France  called  Cette,  where  wines 
with  all  possible  and  impossible  names  were  manufactured  to 
order,  and  that  this  is  the  fraudulent  fountain  from  whence 
the  majority  of  bad  French  wines  flow.  American  wines,  good 
natural  juice  of  the  California  vine,  is  sent  to  Cette  in  quantity, 
there  to  be  doctored  up  and  converted  into  French  wine.  In 
addition   to  wine,  Bordeaux    is  the  world's  entrepdt  for  brandy, 


and  we    made 
to 
n  i 

Bordeaux 
fine  public  builc 
churches  St. 
St.  Michael's  are 
of  Gothic  archi- 
that  peculiar 
33 


special  visits 
houses  where 
brandy  is  kept, 
abounds  with 
i  n  g  s.  T  h  e 
Sternion's  and 
fine  examples 
tecture,  with 
southern   feel- 


5i4 


AUSTRIA   AND  FRANCE. 


ing  which  edifices  in  Northern  France  and  Europe  do  not 
show.  The  exchange,  the  archiepiscopal  palace,  and  the  thea- 
ter, are  admirable  representations  of  modern  style.  The  theater 
in  Bordeaux  is  a  famous  one,  and  most  exacting  as  to  its  per- 
formers. It  is  said  that  the  Bordelaise  will  not  always  accept 
those  stars  whose  meteoric  flights  have  dazzled  Parisian  audi- 
ences. It  might  be  worth  while  to  mention  what  an  important 
place  the  theatrical  performers  and  theatrical  writers  occupy  in 


BORDEAUX. 


France.  If  books  in  the  United  States  are  the  media  through 
which  current  ideas  are  inculcated,  in  France  it  is  the  theater. 
A  Frenchman,  as  far  as  his  theater  goes,  is  a  born  critic.  Dis- 
cussions are  carried  on,  judgments  are  given,  in  regard  to  the 
play  or  the  method  of  a  leading  actor,  which  are  wonderfully 
correct  and  often  subtle. 

A  street  in  Bordeaux  called  the  Chapeau  Rouge  is  the  pride 
of  the  city,  and  is  always  thronged.  Relationship  between 
Bordeaux  and  the  United  States  is  very  close,  and  a  knowledge 
of  our  country,  its  politics,  its  resources  seemed  quite  familiar 


BORDEAUX.  cic 

to  the  Bordelaise.  This  was  the  more  pleasing  as  Frenchmen 
generally,  even  in  the  larger  cities,  were  lamentably  ignorant 
not  only  of  American  geography  but  of  our  history.  Bordeaux 
gave  us  the  idea  of  being  one  of  the  most  prosperous  cities  we 
had  visited ;  as  the  center  of  a  vast  agricultural  interest,  con- 
trolling  a  product  of  great  value,  it  has  done  its  best  to  take 
advantage  of  the  situation,  and  kept  its  commercial  supremacy. 
We  enjoy  the  hospitalities  of  the  city,  which  are  proffered  with 
infinite  courtesy.  We  might  have  prolonged  our  stay  in  Bor- 
deaux had  not  General  Grant  received  a  message  from  his  ma- 
jesty  the  King  of  Spain,  who  was  at  that  time  directing  the  ma- 
neuvers of  his  troops  at  Vittoria.  The  king's  message,  couched 
in  most  courteous  terms,  conveyed  an  invitation  requesting  the 
General  to  honor  him  with  a  visit,  and  such  an  honor  could 
hardly  be  declined.  We  therefore  start  for  Biarritz,  where  we 
intend  to  rest  one  night,  and  next  day  cross  the  frontier. 


THE    ESCL'KIAL    fALACE. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 


SPAIN. 


IARRITZ  was  very  beautiful.  There  was  some- 
thing joyous  in  the  sunshine  which  lit  up  the  old 
Biscayan  town  and  streamed  out  over  the  sea. 
And  the  sea!  how  glorious  it  was  after  so  much 
living:  amone  rivers  and  hedges,  and  to  feel  that  the  farthest 
waves  washed  the  coasts  of  dear  America  !  Biarritz  is  a  small 
frontier  town,  where  the  French  come  in  winter  and  the  Span- 
iards in  summer.  It  juts  out  into  the  sea,  and  has  a  peculiar 
rocky  formation  which  breaks  into  ravines  and  caverns,  and  ad- 
mits of  quaint  walks  and  drives.  Biarritz  might  have  lived  on 
for  a  few  centuries  its  drowsy  existence,  like  hundreds  of  other 
towns  which  have  a  seacoast  and  sand  over  which  bathers  could 
paddle  and  splash,  entirely  unknown,  had  not  the  last  Napoleon 

516 


'« 


BIARRITZ.  -  !  j 

builded  himself  a  seaside  residence.  His  wife  had  fancied  Bi- 
arritz in  early  Spanish  days,  and  it  is  supposed  the  house  was 
built  to  please  her.  But  from  that  moment  Biarritz  became 
famous.  Many  of  the  most  interesting  events  of  the  Third 
Empire  happened  on  this  beach.  You  will  read  about  the  time 
they  had  in  the  books  of  Prosper  Merimee.  Biarritz  seems  to 
have  been  to  the  Empress  Eugenie  what  the  Trianon  gardens 
in  Versailles  were  to  Marie  Antoinette.  It  was  here  that  she 
could  do  as  she  pleased,  and  it  was  so  near  Spain  that  old 
friends  could  drop  in  and  talk  about  old  times.  It  was  here 
that  Bismarck  came  before  the  German  and  Austrian  war  to 
find  out  what  Napoleon  would  do.  Napoleon  was  quite  charmed 
by  the  young  German  statesman,  and  was  talked  into  a  neutral- 
ity which  he  afterward  regarded  as  one  of  the  grave  errors  of 
his  reign.  It  was  this  bamboozling  of  Napoleon  by  Bismarck, 
this  making  the  Emperor  believe  that  if  he  would  only  keep  his 
hands  off  during  the  Austrian  war  he  might  do  as  he  pleased 
afterward,  that  began  the  career  of  Prussian  triumph.  Napo- 
leon kept  his  hands  off.  Austria  was  thrown,  and  Napoleon 
found  not  only  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  do  as  he 
pleased,  but  that  he  was  at  last  face  to  face  with  the  ancient 
and  hereditary' foe  of  France. 

These  are  among  the  thoughts  that  come  as  you  stroll  along 
the  beach  and  look  out  upon  the  sea.  It  rolls  as  calmly  as  when 
Bismarck  and  Napoleon  walked  here,  planning  to  govern  the 
world.  Bismarck  has  more  serious  problems  before  him,  and 
sits  perplexed  and  wondering  over  his  Linked  Germany,  which 
somehow  does  not  unite  as  harmoniously  as  was  hoped,  but  en- 
genders assassination,  and  standing  armies,  and  deficiencies,  and 
communism — sits  a  prematurely  old  man,  bent  and  gray  before 
his  time.  Napoleon  has  vanished  into  night.  The  fair  Euge- 
nie finds  her  home  under  the  cold  gray  skies  of  Chiselhurst  and 
no  longer  comes  to  her  Biscayan  summer  resort.  Her  house 
is  closed.  It  is  a  large,  square,  unpretending  pile,  that  looks 
from  a  distance  like  a  sugar  refinery  or  a  grain  elevator,  it  is 
so  big  and  plain.  I  am  told  it  will  not  be  open  until  the  Empe- 
ror comes  to  his  own  again,  which  is  a  prospect  not  very  appa- 


5i8 


SPAIN. 


rent.  In  the  meantime,  the  little  town,  missing  its  Bonapartes 
and  Bismarcks,  Mornys  and  Merimees,  and  all  the  following  of 
the  court,  has  fallen  into  quiet,  old-fashioned  ways.  There  is  a 
casino  where  you  may  have  cards  and  coffee  ;  a  singing  saloon, 
where  you  may  drink  beer  and  hear  a  vivacious  young  woman 
not  overclothed  sing  you  the  latest  songs  from  Paris.  If  it 
happens  that  your  knowledge  of  the  French  tongue  is  indefinite 
there  will  be  no  remorse  of  conscience  in  hearing  the  songs. 
There  are  several  hotels — one  of  them  among  the  finest  in  Eu- 
rope. I  have  high  authority  for  saying  that  in  this  hotel  is  the 
only  cook  in  Europe  who  can  broil  a  chicken  in  a  manner  satis- 
fying to  the  American  taste.  There  are  stores  where  you  can 
buy  worsted  commodities  and  all  manner  of  knickknacks  from 
Paris.  The  streets — I  believe,  however,  there  is  only  one — are 
picturesque.  You  see  the  Basque  costumes,  farmers  who  yoke 
their  oxen  by  the  head,  and  compel  them  to  haul  the  heaviest 
loads.  I  think  the  General  was  much  more  interested  in  this 
than  in  anything  else — much  more  than  in  the  memories  and 
remnants  of  the  Third  Empire — and  tried  to  solve  the  problem. 
He  had  seen  oxen  handled  in  many  ways,  but  never  in  this 
Pyrenean  fashion.  The  more  it  was  studied  the  more  useless 
it  appeared.  I  suppose  it  is  some  old  Basque  tradition,  and 
has  come  down  from  the  Carthaginians.  There  were  gardens 
and  aromatic  plants  that  perfumed  the  air.  There  were  walks 
on  the  sea  and  on  the  edge  of  cliffs  that  overlooked  the  sea. 
This  is  all  of  Biarritz,  which  lingers  as  a  sunny  spot  in  the 
memory,  for  here  you  have  the  ocean,  and  here  also  you  have 
tokens  of  Spain. 

We  catch  the  first  glimpse  of  Spanish  life  and  character  at 
the  little  town  of  I  run,  which  is  just  over  the  frontier.  Its  neat 
railway  station  was  draped  with  flags  and  bunting.  As  the 
train  drew  up  to  the  platform  General  Grant  alighted  from  his 
carriage  and  was  saluted  by  a  general  of  the  staff  of  Alfonso  II., 
who  welcomed  him  in  the  king's  name  to  the  Iberian  Peninsula. 
He  stated  that  he  was  directed  by  his  majesty  to  place  at 
the  General's  disposal  the  special  railway  carriage  of  the  king, 
and  to  beg  the  acceptance  of  the  same.     The  General  expressed 


SAN  SEBASTIAN. 


5'9 


his  thanks  and  accepted  the  proffered  courtesy.  The  train 
moved  out  of  the  village  toward  the  war-begrimed  city  of 
San  Sebastian,  the  last  stronghold  of  the  Carlists.  On  the 
arrival  of  the  train  at  San  Sebastian,  the  General  was  presented 
to  the  town  officials  and  distinguished  citizens.  The  contracted 
harbor  reflected  the  green  of  the  tree-covered  hills  that  encircle 
it,  and  beyond  the  conelike  isle  at  its  mouth  was  the  sheen  of 
the  noonday  sun  on  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  Leaving  San  Sebastian, 
the   road   leads    southward    toward    Tolosa   and  Vergara.      At 


BIARRITZ 


both  of  these  stations 
a  squad  of  soldiers 
was  stationed.  The 
usual  military  guard  had  been  doubled  in  honor  of  the  Ameri- 
can General.  After  winding  about  the  hills  beyond  the  station 
of  Tolosa,  the  train  suddenly  leaves  the  defiles  behind,  and 
smoothly  skirts  the  side  of  a  great  hill,  giving  the  occupants  of 
the  carriage  a  grand  view  to  the  southward.  Near  at  hand  are 
seen  the  peaks^of  the  Pyrenees— only  the  extreme  western  spur 
of  the  range,  to  be  sure,  but  a  formidable-looking  barrier  to 
railway  engineering.  Altogether  the  journey  is  a  charming 
Swiss-like  ride,  creeping  as  the  traveler  does  through  the  most 
dangerous   mountain-paths,  and  where,  even  yet,  the  railway 


520 


SPAIN. 


coaches  are  alternately  in  the  wildest  forest  of  scraggy  pine  and 
long-leaved  chestnut. 

Passing  the  summit,  the  descent  southward  is  soon  marked 
by  a  radical  change  in  the  aspect  of  the  country.  Villages  are 
met  more  frequently,  until,  winding  through  the  Welsh-looking 
hills,  the  train  dashes  into  Vittoria. 


-    -  n  ■■■ 

SAN    SEBASTIAN. 


We  entered  Spain  about  noon,  passing  many  scenes  of  his- 
torical interest.  I  do  not  remember  them  all,  the  bewitching 
beauty  of  the  coast  and  landscape  usurping  all  mere  historical 
reflections.  I  have  among  my  books  one  written  by  an  Eng- 
lishman. It  is  the  standard  English  book  on  Spain  and  is 
amusing  reading.     The  author  is  named  Ford,  and  the  impres- 


THE  PYRENEES.  -2I 

sion  you  gather  as  you  run  over  the  pages  is  one  of  bitter  beer 
and  Welsh  rarebits.  Ford  seems  to  have  wandered  over  Spain 
a  good  deal  and  to  have  acquired  a  multitude  of  facts.  But  he 
cannot  finish  a  chapter  without  singing  "  God  save  the  Queen  " 
and  blessing  the  memory  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  He 
generally  speaks  of  Wellington  as  "  The  Duke,"  as  though  there 
were  only  one  duke  in  the  British  peerage  entitled  to  the  defi- 
nite article.  He  hates  the  French,  who  have  always  shown 
perfidy  toward  Spain — "sometimes  the  sword,  sometimes  the 
wedding  ring."  This  is  an  allusion  to  the  Spanish  marriage 
which  was  a  burning  question  in  English  politics  thirty  years 
a°-o  when  Ford  was  in  his  glory.  England  was  angry  because 
the  Spanish  queen  would  not  marry  to  suit  England.  There 
was  the  old  dread  of  French  interference  in  Spain,  which  was 
so  rife  in  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.  and  Napoleon.  To  allow 
one  of  Louis  Philippe's  sons  to  marry  a  Spanish  princess  was 
an  extension  of  French  influence  which  England  would  not 
tolerate.  The  son  was  married,  and  now  lives  in  Seville  as 
Duke  de  Montpensier,  and  one  of  the  children  of  this  marriage 
was  the  poor  Queen  Mercedes,  who  was  married  last  January 
and  died  in  June.  The  impression  you  gain  from  writers  like 
Ford  is  that  Spain  would  go  to  eternal  perdition  but  for  the  in- 
tervention of  some  power  like  England.  England  is  the  foun- 
tain of  wisdom,  the  type  of  justice,  the  source  of  power,  the  all- 
conquering  and  ever  just,  which  hangs  over  the   Peninsula  like 

a  Providence,  and  without  which ? 

There  is  this  comfort  in  a  book  like  Ford's,  that  the  man 
believes  what  he  writes.  He  sees  the  world  from  the  English 
point  of  view,  and  every  step  in  a  new  land  is  only  a  point  of 
comparison  with  his  own.  I  have  read  in  novels  and  story 
books  that  the  type  of  the  American  was  his  bragging,  and  that 
the  true  Yankee  made  it  an  hourly  boast  that  he  could  whip 
all  creation.  This  was  before  the  war.  Since  then  we  have 
not  been  in  a  bragging  humor,  and  talk  only  of  corruptions 
and  scandals.  But  for  the  true  bragging  traveler  give  me  the 
Englishman.  He  is  not  offensive  about  it.  He  does  not  make 
it  a  question  of  argument.      The  subject  is  not  one  for  argu- 


^  2  2  SPAIN. 

ment.  Of  course  the  highest  type  of  civilization  is  English, 
and  of  course  there  is  no  army  that  can  stand  for  a  moment  in 
face  of  an  English  army,  and  no  soldier  lived  who  could  com- 
pare with  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  This  is  not  to  be  discussed. 
Everybody  knows  it,  and  I  question  if  there  could  be  any 
offense  graver  than  to  intimate  to  our  English  friend  that  per- 
haps he  was  mistaken  ;  that  there  were  other  countries  where 
an  army  was  valiant,  and  men  were  honest,  and  women  were 
fair ;  that  there  were  nations  who  were  unselfish  and  brave. 
The  English  traveler,  who  comes  to  Spain  with  his  standards 
fixed,  looks  on  this  country  as  a  sad  place.  Nothing  pleases 
him.  The  cooks  put  too  much  garlic  in  the  food,  the  very 
vintners  do  not  know  how  to  flavor  their  sherry.  The  men  you 
meet  on  the  streets  carry  knives.  They  are  bandits,  most  of 
them,  or  would  be  if  you  were  to  meet  them  on  some  lonely 
pass  in  the  Guadarama  hills.  They  are  all  priest-ridden.  If 
the  truth  were  known  they  divide  with  the  priest  the  results  of 
each  adventure.  They  will  not  work.  Life  consists  of  the 
bull  ring,  the  cafe,  the  mass,  and  the  lottery.  They  smoke  ciga- 
rettes— foolish  little  futile  cigarettes — which  are  smoked  before 
you  can  grasp  them.  What  can  you  think  of  a  people  who 
smoke  cigarettes,  when  they  could  buy  the  old-fashioned  clay 
pipes  of  England  and  have  a  genuine  smoke  ?  They  drink  thin 
wine,  or  preparations  of  almond  and  orange.  How  can  a  nation 
be  great  which  will  fool  its  time  on  these  insipid  washes  and 
never  know  the  luxury  of  a  swig  of  good  old  honest  English 
ale  ?  They  eat  beans  and  cakes,  and  rarely  have  roast  beef. 
This  is  the  ultimate  sign  of  decadence. 

God  forbid  that  I  should  raise  a  standard  of  comparison 
disparaging  to  England.  I  only  think  these  standards  should 
not  be  raised  against  Spain,  or  France,  or  the  United  States — 
more  especially  Spain — as  English  writers  are  doing  almost 
without  an  exception.  Coming  once  more  to  Spain,  on  my 
third  journey,  the  memory  of  old  impressions  gathered  from 
English  books,  and  more  particularly  from  Ford,  comes  back 
to  me,  and  I  know  how  unjust  they  are,  and  how  my  own  expe- 
riences were  at  variance  with  those  I  gleaned  from  the  books. 


REVISITING   SPAIN. 


523 


As  to  the  politics  of  Spain,  I  could  never  see  that  any  invasion 
ever  did  her  good,  and  I  do  not  see  much  difference  between 
the  invasions  of  the  English  and  the  French.  It  does  not  oc- 
cur to  me  that  Wellington  came  here  as  the  savior  of  Spain— 


THE   PYRENEES. 


that  he  had  any  sentimental  ideas  on  the  subject.  He  came 
because  England  wanted  to  fight  Napoleon,  and  because  Eng- 
land always  prefers  to  fight  her  battles  in  other  countries  than 
her  own.  A  minister  in  Parliament  can  more  easily  explain 
the  loss  of  ten  thousand  Spanish  or  Hessian  allies  in  a  battle 
than  if  they  were-  ten  thousand  fellow  countrymen  and  the  na- 
tion throbbing  over  their  loss.      I  hear  that  the  French  burned 


524  SPAIN- 

some  towns  when  they  were  in  Spain.  But  England  destroyed 
a  Spanish  fleet  and  sacked  Badajoz,  while  we  owe  to  France 
the  saving  of  the  Alhambra.  To  France  we  owe  the  opening 
of  the  Inquisition  prisons,  one  of  the  most  beneficent  acts  of 
modern  times.  I  can  see  no  interest  that  would  be  served  by 
the  destruction  of  French  power  in  the  Peninsula  but  the  in- 
terests of  England,  and.  these  only  so  far  as  it  is  believed 
that  England  only  can  be  strong  and  free  while  other  nations 
are  weak  and  divided.  I  can  see  how,  from  a  high  political 
point  of  view,  nothing  would  benefit  Spain,  Italy,  and  Portugal 
more  than  for  them  to  form  a  close  commercial  alliance  with 
France — a  confederation  if  possible.  They  have  many  points 
of  resemblance — in  religion,  the  origin  of  language,  and  geo- 
graphical relations.  Such  an  alliance  would  infuse  the  whole 
mass  with  the  wealth  and  the  enterprise  of  France,  and  the 
Mediterranean  might  become  once  more  the  seat  of  empires  as 
mighty  as  the  empires  of  the  past.  But  this  might  affect  the 
route  to  India,  the  balance  of  power,  the  freedom  of  the  seas, 
or  some  special  British  interest.  Everything  must  be  secondary 
to  that.  So  long  as  British  interests  are  safe  it  matters  little 
what  happens  to  Spain  or  how  poor  her  people  may  be. 

I  look  on  Spain  in  a  kindlier  spirit,  and  although  as  you 
cross  the  frontier  you  see  how  all  things  change,  and  feel  the 
instantaneous  difference  between  Spain  and  France,  I  cannot 
help  feeling  that  she  was  mighty  in  other  days,  and  that  within 
her  borders  lies  the  strength  that  may  awake  to  the  mastery  of 
empires.  On  the  one  side  of  the  boundary  you  leave  the  brisk, 
dapper  French  gendarme,  all  action  and  noise,  the  clean  sta- 
tions, trim  with  flowers,  the  eating  tables  where  you  can  burden 
yourself  with  bonbons  and  champagne.  On  the  other  side  you 
hear  no  noise.  That  everlasting  French  clatter  has  ceased. 
You  do  not  see  groups  of  gesticulating  people  all  speaking  at 
once.  Things  are  not  so  clean.  There  is  smoke  everywhere 
■ — smoke  in  the  saloons,  in  the  eating  rooms.  You  might  find 
something  to  eat  in  the  restaurant,  but  it  would  only  be  with 
your  appetite  in  a  normal  condition.  No  one  seems  in  a  hurry. 
Groups  in  all  conditions,  some  in  cloaks,  some  in  rags,  stand 


VITTORIA. 


525 


about  smoking  cigarettes  and  talking  of  politics  and  the  bull 
fights.  I  wonder  if  this  is  a  good  sign,  this  talking  politics.  It 
is  a  new  thing  in  Spain. 

There  were  officers  in  hieh  erade  who  awaited  the  cominy 
of  General  Grant.     They  came  directly  from  the  king,  who  was 


■  ~>-  ■■>,  '  '  fig 


IN    VITlnl.l  \. 


at  Vittoria,  some  hours  distant.  Orders  had  been  sent  to  re- 
ceive our  Ex-President  as  a  captain  general  of  the  Spanish 
army.  This  question  of  how  to  receive  an  Ex-President  of  the 
United  States  has  been  the  source  of  tribulation  in  most  Euro- 
pean cabinets,  and  its  history  may  make  an  interesting  chapter 
some  day.  Spain  solved  it  by  awarding  the  Ex-President  the 
highest  military  honors.      More  interesting  by  far  than  this  was 


526 


SPAIN. 


the  meeting  with  Mr.  Castelar,  the  Ex-President  of  Spain. 
Mr.  Castelar  was  in  our  train  and  on  his  way  to  San  Sabastian. 
As  soon  as  General  Grant  learned  that  he  was  among  the 
group  that  gathered  on  the  platform  he  sent  word  that  he 
would  like  to  know  him.  Mr.  Castelar  was  presented  to  the 
General,  and  there  was  a  brief  and  rapid  conversation.  The 
General  thanked  Mr.  Castelar  for  all  that  he  had  done  for  the 
United  States,  for  the  many  eloquent  and  noble  words  he  had 
spoken  for  the  North,  and  said  he  would  have  been  very  much 
disappointed  to  have  visited  Spain  and  not  met  him  ;  that  there 
was  no  man  in  Spain  he  was  more  anxious  to  meet.  Castelar 
is  still  a  young  man.  He  has  a  large,  domelike  head,  with  an 
arching  brow  that  recalls  in  its  outline  the  brow  of  Shakespeare. 
He  is  under  the  average  height,  and  his  face  has  no  covering 
but  a  thick,  drooping  mustache.  You  note  the  Andalusian  type, 
swarthy,  mobile,  and  glowing  eyes  that  seem  to  burn  with  the 
sun  of  the  Mediterranean.  Castelar's  Presidency  was  a  tempest 
with  Carlism  in  the  north,  and  communism  in  the  south,  and 
the  monarchy  everywhere.  How  he  held  it  was  a  marvel,  for 
he  had  no  friend  in  the  family  of  nations  but  America,  and  that 
was  a  cold  friendship.  But  he  kept  Spain  free,  and  executed 
the  laws  and  vindicated  the  national  sovereignty,  and  set  on 
foot  by  his  incomparable  eloquence  the  spirit  which  pervades 
Spain  to-day,  and  which,  sooner  or  later,  will  make  itself  an 
authority  which  even  the  cannon  of  General  Pavis  cannot  chal- 
lenge. It  was  a  picture,  not  without  instructive  features,  this 
of  Castelar,  the  orator  and  Ex-President  of  Spain,  conversing 
on  the  platform  of  the  frontier  railway  station  with  Grant,  the 
soldier  and  Ex-President  of  the  United  States.  "When  I 
reach  Madrid,"  said  the  General,  "  I  want  to  see  you."  "  I 
will  come  at  any  time,"  said  Castelar.  The  only  man  in  Spain 
who  received  such  a  message  from  General  Grant  was  Emilio 
Castelar. 

A  slight  rain  was  falling  as  we  entered  Vittoria.  The  town 
seems  in  a  glow,  and  the  open  space  in  front  of  our  hotel  is 
filled  with  booths  and  dealers  in  grain  and  other  merchandise. 
The  traders  sit  over  their  heaps  of  beans,  peppers,  melons,  and 


BASQUE  FARMERS. 


527 


potatoes.  They  are  mainly  women,  who  wear  a  quaint  Basque 
costume  ;  the  men  in  red  and  blue  bonnets,  with  blue  blouses, 
mostly  faded,  and  red  sashes  swathed  about  the  waist.  These 
cavaliers  spend  most  of  their  time  smoking  cigarettes,  watching 
their  wives  at  work.  Now  and  then  a  swarthy  citizen  in  a 
Spanish  cloak  saunters  by,  having  been  to  mass  or  to  coffee, 
and  eager  to  breathe  the  morning  air.  A  farmer  drives  over 
the  primitive  stony  street.      His  ca'rt  is  a  box  resting  on  two 


BASQUE    FAKMEKS. 


clumsy  wooden  wheels.  When  you  remember  that  it  has  taken 
two  thousand  years  of  Basque  civilization — the  most  ancient, 
perhaps,  in  Europe — to  produce  this  wheel,  you  may  guess  how 
far  the  people  have  advanced.  The  cart  is  drawn  by  two  oxen 
with  their  horns  locked  together  and  their  heads  covered  by  a 
fleece.  In  the  cart  is  a  pig,  ready  for  the  last  and  highest  office 
a  pig  can  pay  to  humanity.  Other  carts  come  laden  with  hay 
drawn  by  the  slow,  shambling  oxen,  all  seeking  a  market.  You 
hear  drums  and  trumpets  and  army  calls.  The  town  is  a  camp, 
and  ladies  are' thro  no-ins:  the  lattice  windows  and  soldiers  come 


528 


SPAIN. 


out  of  the  narrow  streets  into  the  market  place. 
This  is  the  season  of  the  maneuvers.  A  crowd  of  citizens 
stand  in  the  street  about  a  hundred  paces  from  our  hotel,  quiet, 
expectant,  staring  into  an  open  gateway.  This  gateway  leads 
into  a  long,  irregular,  low  range  of  buildings  of  yellowish  stone 
and  red  tiles.  Over  the  gate  clings  the  flag  of  Spain,  its  damp 
folds  clustering  the  pole.  A  black  streamer  blends  with  the 
yellow  and  crimson  folds,  mourning  the  death  of  the  Queen. 

Natty  young  officers  trip 
about,  their  breasts  blaz- 
oned with  decorations, 
telling  of  victories  in 
Carlist  and  Cuban  wars, 
all  wearing  mourning  on 
their  arms  for  the  poor 
young  Mercedes.  The 
sentinels  present  arms,  a 
group  of  elderly  officers 
come  streaming  out  of 
the  gateway.  At  their 
head  is  a  stripling  with  a 
slight  mustache  and  thin, 
dark  side-whiskers.  In 
this  group  are  the  first 
generals  in  Spain — 
Concha,  Ouesada — cap- 
tains general,  noblemen, 
helmeted,  spurred,  braid- 
ed with  gold  lace,  old 
men  with  gray  h  a  i  r  s. 
The  stripling  they  follow,  dressed  in  captain-general's  uniform, 
and  touching  his  cap  to  the  crowd  as  it  uncovers,  is  Alfonso 
XII.,  King  of  Spain. 

When  General  Grant  reached  Vittoria  there  were  all  the 
authorities  out  to  see  him,  and  he  was  informed  that  in  the 
morning  the  King  would  meet  him.  Ten  o'clock  was  the  hour, 
and  the  place  was  a  small  city-hall  or  palace,  where  the  King 


SPANISH    GIRL. 


INTERVIEW   WITH   THE  KING.  -2q 

resides  when  he  comes  into  his  capital.  At  ten  the  General 
called,  and  was  escorted  into  an  anteroom  where  were  several 
aides  and  generals  in  attendance.  He  passed  into  a  small 
room,  and  was  greeted  by  the  King.  The  room  was  a  library, 
with  books  and  a  writing  table  covered  with  papers,  as  though 
his  majesty  had  been  hard  at  work.  His  majesty  is  a  young 
man,  twenty  past,  with  a  frank,  open  face,  side  whiskers  and  a 
mustache  like  down.  He  was  in  the  undress  uniform  of  a  cap- 
tain general,  and  had  a  buoyant,  boyish  way  about  him  which 
made  one  sorrow  to  think  that  on  these  young  shoulders  should 
rest  the  burdens  of  sovereignty.  How  much  he  would  have 
given  to  have  gone  into  the  green  fields  for  a  romp  and  a  ram- 
ble— those  green  fields  that  look  so  winsome  from  the  window. 
It  is  only  yesterday  that  he  was  among  his  toys  and  velocipedes, 
and  here  he  is  a  real  king,  with  a  uniform,  heavily  braided  with 
bullion,  showing  that  he  ranks  with  the  great  generals  of  the 
world.  Alfonso  speaks  French  as  though  it  was  his  own  tongue, 
German  and  Spanish  fluently,  but  not  so  well,  and  English  with 
good  accent,  but  a  limited  vocabulary.  When  the  General 
entered  the  King  gave  him  a  seat,  and  they  entered  into  con- 
versation. There  was  a  little  fencing  as  to  whether  the  con- 
versation should  be  in  English  or  Spanish.  The  General  said 
he  knew  Spanish  in  Mexico,  but  thirty-five  years  had  passed 
since  it  was  familiar  to  him,  and  he  would  not  venture  upon  it 
now.  The  King  was  anxious  to  speak  Spanish,  but  English 
and  French  were  the  only  tongues  used. 

The  King  said  he  was  honored  by  the  visit  of  General 
Grant,  and  especially  because  the  General  had  come  to  see  him 
in  Vittoria  ;  otherwise  he  would  have  missed  the  visit,  which 
would  have  been  a  regret  to  him.  He  was  very  curious  to  see 
the  General,  as  he  had  read  all  about  him,  his  campaigns  and 
his  presidency,  and  admired  his  genius  and  his  character.  To 
this  the  General  answered  that  he  would  have  been  sorry  to 
have  visited  Europe  without  seeing  Spain.  The  two  countries 
— Spain  and  the  United  States — were  so  near  each  other  in 
America  that  their  interests  were  those  of  neighbors.  The 
General  then  spoke  of  the  sympathy  which  was  felt  throughout 
34 


53o  SPAIN. 

the  United  States  for  the  King  in  the  loss  of  his  wife.  The 
King  said  that  he  had  learned  this,  had  seen  its  evidence  in 
many  American  newspapers,  and  it  touched  him  very  nearly. 
He  then  spoke  of  the  Queen.  His  marriage  had  been  one  of 
love,  not  of  policy.  He  had  been  engaged  to  his  wife  almost 
from  childhood — for  five  years  at  least.  He  had  made  the  mar- 
riage in  spite  of  many  difficulties,  and  their  union,  although 
brief,  was  happy.  No  one  knew  what  a  help  she  had  been  in 
combating  the  difficulties  of  the  situation,  for  it  was  no  pleasure 
to  be  an  executive — no  easy  task.  The  General  had  seen  some- 
thing of  it,  and  knew  what  it  was.  To  this  the  General 
answered  that  he  had  had  eight  years  of  it,  and  they  were  the 
most  difficult  and  burdensome  of  his  life.  The  King  continued 
to  dwell  on  the  burdens  of  his  office.  Spain  was  tranquil  and 
prosperous,  and  he  believed  she  was  entering  upon  a  career  of 
greater  prosperity  ;  and  from  all  parts  of  his  kingdom  came  assu- 
rances of  contentment  and  loyalty.  There  were  no  internecine 
wars  like  the  Carlists'  in  the  north,  or  the  communists'  in  the 
south,  and  Cuba  was  pacified.  All  this  was  a  pleasure  to  him. 
But  there  were  difficulties  inseparable  from  the  royal  office. 
While  his  wife  lived,  together  they  met  them,  and  now  she  was 
gone.  His  only  solace,  he  continued,  was  activity,  incessant 
labor.  He  described  his  way  of  living — rising  early  in  the 
morning,  visiting  barracks,  reviewing  troops,  and  going  from 
town  to  town. 

All  this  was  said  in  the  frankest  manner — the  young  King 
leaning  forward  in  his  chair,  pleased,  apparently,  at  having  some 
one  to  whom  he  could  talk,  some  one  who  had  been  in  the 
same  path  of  perplexity,  who  could  feel  as  he  felt.  The  Gene- 
ral entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  young  man's  responsibilities, 
and  the  talk  ran  upon  what  men  gain  and  lose  in  exalted  sta- 
tions. There  was  such  a  contrast  between  the  two  men — 
Alfonso  in  his  general's  uniform,  the  President  in  plain  black 
dress,  fumbling  an  opera  hat  in  his  hand.  In  one  face  were  all 
the  joy  and  expectancy  of  youth — of  beaming,  fruitful  youth — 
just  touched  by  the  shadow  of  a  great  duty  and  a  heart-searing 
sorrow.      Behind   him   the   memory  of  his  love,  his  dear  love, 


THE  RECEPTIOX   OP  THE   GENERAL. 


531 


torn  from  his  arms  almost  before  he  had  crowned  their  lives 
with  the  nuptial  sacrament  —  before  him  all  the  burdens  of 
the  throne  of  Spain.  In  the  other  face  were  the  marks  of 
battles  won,  and  hardships  endured,  and  triumphs  achieved — 
and  rest  at  last.  One  face  was  young  and  fair.  The  skin  as 
soft  as  satin,  youth  and  effort  streaming  from  the  dark,  bound- 
ing eyes.     The  other  showed  labor.     There  were  lines  on  the 


idga&t 


it 


Sfii 


PALACE    AT   MADRID 


■?i  brow,  gray  hairs  mantling  the 
forehead,  the  beard  gray  and 
brown,  the  stooping  shoulders 
showing  that  Time's  hand  was 
bearing  upon  them.  One  was 
twenty  years  of  age,  the  other 
fifty-six  ;  but  in  feeling,  at  least, 
it  seemed  that  the  younger  of  the  two  was  the  Ex-President- 
Care  and  sorrow  had  stamped  themselves  on  the  young  King's 
face.  The  pomp,  the  parades,  the  dinners,  the  display  of  mili- 
tary and  social  attractions,  have  been  repeated  here,  as  in  other 
European  lands.  You  must  add  to  this  that  Spanish  courtesy 
is  always  stately  and  gracious.     This  air  of  sincerity  adds  to 


SPAIN. 


532 

the  value  of  a  courtesy.  The  American  will  tell  you  in  a 
hurried,  rolling  fashion,  "Glad  to  see  you;"  "Come  again;" 
"  Take  a  drink  ;"  and  straightway  you  vanish  and  are  forgotten. 
If  you  meet  a  week  later  you  will  require  an  introduction.  The 
Spaniard  will  tell  you,  "  This  is  your  house.  You  have  taken 
possession  of  it."  You  must  not  suppose  that  this  involves  the 
right  to  move  your  furniture  and  set  up  housekeeping.  He 
means  what  the  American  means,  but  says  it  in  a  more  impres- 
sive manner.  In  the  reception  of  General  Grant  there  was  the 
same  difference.  It  was  stately  and  grave.  The  General  might 
have  been  a  conqueror  coming  into  his  kingdom  ;  he  might 
have  been  the  fifth  Charles,  risen  out  of  his  Escurial  tomb,  come 
back  to  see  what  had  become  of  his  vast  dominion.  He  would 
have  been  received  pretty  much  as  our  Ex-President  was  re- 
ceived. There  would  have  been  ceremonies,  speeches,  atten- 
tions. You  would  miss  the  crowds  that  surrounded  him  at 
Christiana  and  all  through  Sweden — friendly,  eager  crowds. 
You  would  miss  the  cheers  that  followed  him  through  Eng- 
land. The  Spaniard  never  goes  in  a  crowd  except  to  mass,  and 
never  cheers  unless  it  may  be  at  a  bull  fight.  The  moment  of 
supreme  enthusiasm  only  comes  when  Frascuelo  drives  the 
point  of  his  sword  into  the  neck  of  the  panting  and  wounded 
bull. 

From  Vittoria  the  General  and  party  went  direct  to  Madrid, 
arriving  on  October  28th,  and  were  most  heartily  welcomed. 
The  situation  of  Madrid  is  singularly  unfavorable,  as  it  is  built 
on  a  high  barren  plane  where  there  is  scarcely  a  tree  or  shrub. 
The  river  Manzanares,  an  unimportant  affluent  of  the  Tagus, 
skirts  it  on  the  west.  This  stream  is  crossed  by  five  bridges 
whose  great  size  forms  a  striking  contrast  with  that  of  the 
river.  We  visited  the  Royal  Palace,  an  immense  square  edi- 
fice, a  combination  of  the  Ionic  and  Doric  in  its  architec- 
ture, but  were  not  especially  interested.  Its  great  size  was  the 
only  thing  which  astonished  us.  Opposite  the  Royal  Palace, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Manzanares  is  the  Padro,  the  Hyde 
Park  of  Madrid.  This  is  a  long  spacious  walk,  adorned  on 
either  side  by  rows  of  trees   and  several  fountains.      It  is  the 


~ 
— 

CO 


THE   ESCURIAL.  -,  ■> 

evening  resort  for  all  classes  of  people.  Here,  on  a  sunny- 
afternoon,  we  find  the  beauty  and  the  valor  and  the  grace  of 
Madrid.  Pleasant  it  was  to  see  all  Madrid  out  taking  the  air, 
and  note  the  wonderful  beauty  of  the  skies,  which  have  a  beauty 
of  their  own  in  this  captivating  Spain.  Pleasant  it  was,  too, 
to  see  the  maidens  with  veils  and  mantillas,  grouped  in  couples, 
with  demure,  gazelle-like  eyes,  looking  at  you  so  shyly.  Pleas- 
ant it  was  to  see  the  nurses  of  Andalusia,  in  peasant  costume, 
with  brown  faces,  and  ripe,  bonny  bosoms,  which  children  were 
draining,  ranged  in  chairs  and  watching  the  swaying  world  in 
innocent,  unconscious  wonder. 

There  was  a  visit  to  the  Escurial,  the  Hon.  J.  Russell 
Lowell  and  his  wife  accompanying  General  Grant.  The  day 
was  spent  in  wandering  about  its  gigantic  walls,  which  embody 
the  genius  and  bigotry  of  the  darkest  age  of  Spain.  The  won- 
der that  we  felt,  at  a  work  so  unique  and  so  stupendous,  gave 
place  to  gratitude  that  the  age  which  had  made  its  existence 
possible  had  passed  away,  that  the  power  which  it  embodied 
has  vanished,  and  that  its  only  value  now  is  as  a  monument  of 
a  cruel,  dreary,  and  degraded  age.  The  evening  of  our  de- 
parture from  Madrid  was  the  occasion  of  the  attempt  to  assas- 
sinate King  Alphonso.  This  attempt  took  place  a  moment  or 
two  after  the  king,  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  passed  in  front  of 
the  hotel,  where  General  Grant  and  Mr.  Lowell  were  standing 
on  the  balcony.  His  Majesty,  in  passing,  waved  to  General 
Grant  a  gracious  personal  salute.  A  moment  afterwards  the 
shot  was  fired,  which,  happily,  failed  in  its  murderous  aim. 


CHAPTER    XX. 


PORTUGAL. 


ISBON  is  a  city  built  as  it  were  on  billows.  The 
view  from  the  river  is  very  beautiful,  recalling  in 
some  degree  the  view  of  Constantinople  from  the 
Bosphorus.  The  skies  were  gracious  to  our  coming, 
and  the  air  was  as  warm  as  a  Virginia  spring.  There  are 
so  many  stories  about  the  foundation  of  Lisbon  that  the 
reader  may  take  Ids  choice.  Ulysses  is  said  to  have  made  this 
one  of  his  wanderings,  and  to  have,  in  the  words  of  Camoens, 
bidden  "  the  eternal  walls  of  Lisbon  rise."  There  is  a  legend 
to  the  effect  that  Lisus,  friend  of  Bacchus,  was  the  founder, 
while  other  authorities  say  that  it  was  the  great  grandson  of 
Noah,  a  person  named  Elisa,  and  the  date  they  fix  at  two  thou- 
sand one  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  Christ,  or  two  hundred 
and  seventy-eight  years  after  the  Deluge.     The  value  of  these 

534 


LISBON.  535 

legends  is  that  there  is  no  way  of  contradicting  them,  and  one 
is  about  as  good  as  another.  I  find  it  easier  to  believe  the 
narratives  I  hear,  and  to  fancy,  as  I  walk  up  and  down  the 
steep,  descending  streets,  that  I  am  really  in  classical  society. 
It  is  due  to  Elisa's  claim  to  say  that  the  time  is  fixed,  and  that 
it  was  only  four  thousand  and  twenty-eight  years  ago.  As  we 
come  into  more  attainable  chronology  we  find  that  Lisbon 
was  once  a  part  of  the  Carthaginian  dominions,  and  supported 
Hannibal.  That  astute  commander  had  such  hard  luck  in  the 
world  that  I  have  always  been  disposed  to  take  his  part,  and 
Lisbon  has  a  friendlier  look  now  that  I  know  she  stood  by  the 
Carthaginian  captain  against  the  power  of  Rome.  It  shows  a 
lack  of  enterprise  in  the  Lisbon  people  that  they  have  not  found 
out  the  house  in  which  Hannibal  lived  or  the  trees  under  which 
he  prayed,  as  all  well-regulated  towns  in  the  United  States  do 
concerning  Washington.  There  was  no  trace  of  Hannibal  in 
Lisbon.  The  people  seemed  to  be  under  the  impression  that 
the  only  great  commanders  who  had  ever  been  in  Lisbon  were 
Don  Sebastian  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  They  show  the 
very  quay  from  which  Don  Sebastian  embarked  on  the  journey 
from  which  he  has  not  returned,  and  the  lines  of  Torres  Vedras 
are  in  the  suburbs,  where  the  duke  began  his  sentimental  er- 
rand of  delivering  Europe. 

Julius  Caesar  was  kind  to  Lisbon,  although  the  people — 
such  is  the  ingratitude  of  modern  times — seem  to  have  for- 
gotten it.  Then  came  the  Goths,  who  took  it  from  the  Romans 
and  plundered  it.  The  Goths,  who  seem  td  have  been  an  unin- 
teresting people,  well  deserving  their  fate,  were  driven  out  by  the 
Moors  more  than  eleven  centuries  ago.  The  Moors  never  had 
much  peace  in  Lisbon,  and  the  chronicles  of  their  reign  are  chroni- 
cles of  assaults  and  counter-assaults — now  Christian  ahead,  and 
now  the  infidel — for  centuries,  so  that  real  estate  must  have  been 
as  bad  an  investment  during  their  day  as  in  New  York  since  the 
panic.  But  there  came  a  prince  of  the  House  of  Burgundy, 
about  seven  centuries  ago,  and  he  whipped  the  Moors  in  a 
pitched  battle.  The  chief  incident  in  this  transaction  was  the 
appearance  of  our  Saviour  to  the  king  on  the  morning  of  the 


53< 


PORTUGAL. 


battle,  with  a  bright  halo  around  his  head,  who  assured  the 
prince  of  victory.  This  sovereign  is  called  the  founder  of  the 
present  kingdom  of  Portugal.  He  was  known  as  Affonso  the 
Conqueror,  and  his  remains  are  in  a  magnificent  sepulcher  at 
Coimbra.  He  flourished  about  the  time  of  Henry  II.,  who  had 
the  fatal  quarrel  with  Becket.  For  two  centuries  Lisbon  re- 
mained under  her  kings, 
until  a  king  of  Castile 
came  over  and  burned 
a  greater  part  of  the 
town.  It  seems  that 
there  was  a  woman  in 
the  case,  for  Camoens 
tells  of  the  beauteous 
Leon  ore,  who  was  torn 
from  her  h  u  s  b  a  n  d's 
widowed  arms  against 
the  law  and  command- 
ments. In  1497,  Vasco 
de  Gama  sailed  from 
Lisbon  on  the  expedi- 
tion which  was  to  result 
in  the  discovery  of  the 
passage  around  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  to  the 
Indies.  This  was  the 
beginning  °f  a  career  of 
commercial  splendor.  For  two  centuries  the  wealth  of  the 
Indies  was  poured  into  her  coffers.  In  1580,  Philip  II.  of  Spain 
took  the  town  and  annexed  Portugal.  During'  his  reign  the 
Spanish  Armada  was  fitted  out  at  Lisbon  and  sailed  from  here  to 
conquer  England.  If  Philip  had  made  Lisbon  his  capital  and 
transferred  the  government  of  the  whole  peninsula  hither  there 
is  little  doubt  that  Spain  and  Portugal  would  be  one  country 
still,  with  advantage  to  the  two  nations  and  the  world.  Lisbon 
is  the  natural  site  for  such  a  capital.  But  Philip  was  infatuated 
with  his  monkish  career  at  the  Escurial,  and   his  successors  did 


1  •■*'    „ 


FISH-GIRL    OF    LISBON. 


537 

not  think  much  of  Portugal  except  as  a  good  province  to  tax, 
and  so  in  1640  the  people  arose  one  December  night  and  drove 
the  Spaniards  out,  and  from  that  time  it  has  been  in  the  hands 
of  its  own  people. 

The  most  memorable  event  in  Lisbon  history  was  the  earth- 
quake of  1755,  traces  of  which  you  can  see  to-day,  and  about 
which  people  converse — as  the  people  of  Chicago  do  about  their 
fire — as  though  it  happened  the  other  day.  It  was  on  the  feast 
of  All  Saints,  in  the  earl}'  morning,  when  Christians  were  at 
mass  praying  for  the  repose  of  the  souls  of  the  clear  ones  gone. 
A  noise  was  heard  as  of  thunder,  the  buildings  tossed  like  a 
ship  on  the  billows,  darkness  fell  upon  the  earth,  and,  as  all  the 
churches  were  crowded,  hundreds  were  crushed  to  death  at  the 
altar's  foot  by  the  falling  timbers.  Nearly  every  church  in  the 
town  was  destroyed.  Then  the  people  rushed  to  the  water  side 
and  to  the  higher  places  of  the  town,  mainly  to  a  church  called 
St.  Catherine's.  Surely  there  was  safety  on  the  high  places  and 
on  the  banks  of  the  river.  But  a  second  shock  came.  St.  Cathe- 
rine's Church  fell  with  a  crash.  The  river  became  a  sea,  and 
there  rolled  over  its  banks  a  mountainous  wave,  sweeping  the 
lower  streets  and  all  that  lived  on  them  ;  and  the  earth  opened, 
and  the  ships  went  down,  likewise  a  magnificent  marble  quay, 
on  which  people  had  assembled — all  went  down,  down  into  the 
depths;  and  when  the  wave  receded  it  was  found  that  all  had 
been  swallowed  up.  The  river  rose  and  fell  three  fathoms  in 
an  instant.  The  ships'  anchors  were  thrown  up  to  the  surface. 
A  third  shock  came,  and  vessels  that  had  been  riding  in  seven 
fathoms  of  water  were  stranded.  Then  a  fire  broke  out  and 
raged  for  six  davs.  Never  since  cities  were  founded  was  any  one 
so  sorely  smitten  as  beautiful  Lisbon. 

The  best  authorities  say  that  the  loss  to  Lisbon  was  three 
hundred  million  dollars  in  money.  Of  twenty  thousand  houses 
only  three  thousand  remained.  Thirty  thousand  lives  were  lost. 
Then  the  robbers  came  and  plundered  the  ruined  town,  and  it 
was  given  over  to  plunder  until  the  resolute  Marquis  Pombal, 
ancestor  of  the  recently  deceased  Soldanba,  came,  and,  building 
gallowses  in  various  parts  of  Lisbon,  hanged  everyone  who  could 


53* 


PORTUGAL. 


not  give  a  clear  explanation  of  how  he  came  by  his  property. 
In  all  three  hundred  and  fifty  were  hanged.  It  seems  that  the 
earthquake  which  destroyed  Lisbon  was  Celt  all  over  the  world 
— as  far  north  as  the  Orkney  Islands  and  in  Jamaica.  The 
culmination  was  in  Lisbon.  But  the  people,  under  the  lead  of 
the  brave  Pombal  and  the  king,  Joseph  I.— who  is  called  "  The 
Most  Faithful  " — rebuilt  the  town,  and  you  see  how  well  that 
work  was  done.  You  see  rows  of  houses  that  remind  you  of 
Paris,  fine  squares  and  a  newness  in  certain  quarters,  as  though 

it  was    the    re- 
built section  of 
Boston.       One 
hundred    and 
twenty  -three 
years     have 
passed  since  the 
earthquake,  but 
no    event   is   so 
well    known. 
People     show 
you  where    the 
quay    stood 
which  sank  into 
the    depths.       I 
strolled   over  it 
this     morning 
with    General 
Grant  and  saw 
the     barefooted 
fishwomen 
hawking    fish. 
They  point  out 
the  magnificent 
improvements 

carried  out  by  Pombal.  They  show  you  with  pride  the  eques- 
trian statue  of  Don  Jos£,  erected  by  a  grateful  people  in  com- 
memoration of  his  services  in  that  awful  time.     And  if  you  climb 


STREET  SCENE — LISBON. 


RECEPTION  IN  LISBON.  --,n 

up  to  the  fort  for  a  view  of  the  lovely  scenery  which  incloses 
Lisbon,  the  first  object  pointed  out  is  the  ruin  of  the  Carmelite 
church  destroyed  in  the  earthquake. 

The  King  of  Portugal,  Don  Luis  I.,  is  a  young  man  in  the 
fortieth  year  of  his  age,  second  cousin  to  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
who  is  three  years  his  junior,  and  between  whom  there  is  a 
marked  resemblance.  The  Queen  is  the  youngest  sister  of  the 
present  King  of  Italy.  The  king's  father  is  Prince  Ferdinand 
of  Saxe-Coburtr,  cousin  of  the  late  Prince  Consort  of  EnQ-land. 
His  first  wife,  the  mother  of  the  king,  died  many  years  since. 
His  second  wife,  now  living,  is  an  American  lady  from  Boston, 
named  Henzler,  ami  is  called  the  Countess  d'Edla.  One  of  the 
king's  sisters  is  wife  to  the  second  son  of  the  King  of  Saxony  ; 
the  other,  wife  to  Prince  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, 
whose  election  to  the  throne  of  Spain  by  Prim  was  one  ot  the 
causes  of  the  war  between  Germany  and  France.  In  the  way 
of  revenue,  the  king  is  paid  four  hundred  and  five  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  and  the  queen  sixty-six  thousand  six  hundred 
dollars.  The  eldest  son,  heir  apparent,  is  now  fifteen  years 
old,  and  twenty-two  thousand  two  hundred  dollars  is  his  salary. 
The  second  son  is  only  thirteen  years  old,  and  receives  eleven 
thousand  one  hundred  dollars.  The  king's  father  is  paid  one 
hundred  and  eleven  thousand  dollars  annually,  and  his  brother, 
a  young  man  of  thirty-one,  is  general  in  the  arm)-  and  has  a 
salary  of  seventeen  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per 
annum.  When  you  add  the  king's  great-aunt,  an  old  lady  of 
seventy-seven,  who  is  paid  twenty-two  thousand  two  hundred 
dollars,  you  have  the  whole  royal  family,  with  their  incomes, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  something  over  six  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  a  year. 

The  Kino-,  on  learning-  that  General  Grant  had  arrived  in 
Lisbon,  came  to  the  city  to  meet  him.  There  was  an  audience 
at  the  palace,  the  General  and  his  wife  meeting  the  King  and 
Queen.  The  King,  after  greeting  the  General  in  the  splendid 
audience  chamber,  led  him  into  an  inner  apartment,  away  from 
the  ministers  and  courtiers  who  were  in  attendance  on  the  cere- 
mony.     They  had  a  long  conversation  relative  to  Portugal  and 


54Q 


PORTl  GAL. 


the  United  States,  the  resources  of  the  two  countries,  and  the 
means,  if  means  were  possible,  to  promote  the  commercial  rela- 
tions between  Portugal  and  America.  Portugal  was,  above  all 
things,  a  commercial  nation,  and  her  history  was  a  history  of 
discovery  and  extending  civilization.  Lisbon,  in  a  direct  line, 
was  the  nearest  port  for  ships  leaving  New  York.      It  was  on 


SCENK   IN    ruKTUGAL. 


the  line  of  latitude  south  of  the  icebergs,  and  a  pleasanter  part 
of  the  ocean  than  the  routes  to  Liverpool.  There  was  a  harbor 
large  enough  to  hold  any  fleet,  and  the  King  believed  that 
when  the  new  lines  of  railway  through  Portugal  and  Spain 
were  built,  the  route  would  be  seventeen  miles  shorter  than  over 
the  present  many-winding  way  of  the  Salamanca  road.  The 
advantages  of  such  a  port  as  Lisbon  would  be  many  for  travelers, 
and  the   King  had  no  doubt  that  markets   for  American  pro- 


ROYAL  LITERATURE.  -.j 

duce  and  manufactures  would  be  found  in  die   countries  around 
Lisbon. 

The  King  had  been  a  naval  officer,  and  the  conversation  ran 
into  ships  of  war  and  naval  warfare.  There  were  other  meetings 
between  the  King  and  the  General.  The  day  after  the  palace 
reception  was  the  King's  birthday,  and  there  was  a  gala  night 
at  the  opera.  The  King  and  royal  family  came  in  state,  and 
during  the  interludes  the  General  had  a  long  conversation  with 
his  majesty.  The  next  evening  there  was  a  dinner  at  the  palace 
in  honor  of  the  General,  the  ministry  and  the  leading  men  of 
the  court  in  attendance.  The  King  conversed  with  the  General 
about  other  themes — wanted  him  to  gro  with  him  and  shoot.  It 
seems  the  King  is  a  famous  shot.  But  the  General's  arrange- 
ments left  him  no  time  to  accept  this  courtesy. 

It  seems  the  King  is  a  literary  man,  and  having  translated 
"  Hamlet  "  into  Portuguese,  the  conversation  ran  into  literary 
themes.  The  King  said  he  hoped  to  finish  Shakespeare  and 
make  a  complete  translation  into  Portuguese.  He  had  finished 
four  of  the  plays — "Hamlet,"  "Merchant  of"  Venice,"  "Mac- 
beth," and  "Richard  III."  "Othello"  was  under  way,  and 
already  he  had  finished  the  first  act.  The  question  was  asked 
as  to  whether  his  majesty  did  not  find  it  difficult  to  translate 
such  scenes  as  that  between  Hamlet  and  the  grave-diggers— 
almost  dialect  conversations — into  Portuguese.  The  King  said 
he  thought  this  was,  perhaps,  the  easiest  part.  It  was  more 
difficult  to  render  into  Portuguese  the  grander  portions,  where 
the  poetry  attained  its  highest  flight.  "  The  Merchant  of 
Venice"  he  liked  extremely,  and  "Richard  III."  was  in  some 
respects  as. fine  as  any  of  Shakespeare's  plays.  "What  politi- 
cal insight,"  said  the  King;  "what  insight  into  motives  and 
character  this  play  contains!"  The  King  asked  the  General 
to  accept  a  copy  of  "  Hamlet,"  which  his  majesty  presented 
with  an  autograph  inscription.  As  the  time  came  to  leave,  the 
King  asked  the  General  to  allow  him  to  mark  his  appreciation 
of  the  honor  the  General  had  done  Portugal  by  visiting  it 
by  giving  him  the  grand  cross  of  the  Tower  and  Sword.  1  he 
General  said  he  was  verv  much  obliged,  but   that,  having  been 


542 


PORTUGAL. 


President  of  the  United  States,  and  there  being  a  law  against 
officials  accepting  decorations,  he  would  rather,  although  no 
longer  in  office,  respect  a  law  which  it  had  been  his  duty  to 
administer.      At  the  same  time  he  appreciated  the   compliment 


implied  in  the  king's  offer  and 
would  always  remember  it  with 
gratitude. 

Don  Fernando,  the  King  Con- 
sort  and   father  to  the  king,   was 

also  exceedingly  courteous  to  the  General.  His  majesty  is 
sixty  years  of  age,  and  is  a  tall,  stately  gentleman,  resem- 
bling somewhat  his  relative,  Leopold  I.  of  Belgium.  Don  Fer- 
nando is  one  of  the  Coburg  house  of  princes,  who  are  spread- 
in^  over  Europe.  He  belongs  to  the  Catholic  wing  of  the 
family — these  great  houses  having  Catholic  and  Protestant 
wines,  to  suit  the  exigencies  of  royal  alliances.  He  came  to 
Portugal  forty-two  years  ago  as  the  husband  of  Doiia  Maria  II., 


VISIT  TO    CINTR.  1.  c  ,  , 

543 

Queen  of  Portugal,  and  sister  to  Dom  Pedro  of  Brazil.  Dona 
Maria  died  in  1853,  and  Don  Fernando  became  regent  until 
his  first  son,  Dom  Pedro  V.,  was  of  a^e.  Dom  Pedro  reigned 
six  years,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother,  the  present  sove- 
reign. Americans  will  be  pleased  to  know  that  his  majesty,  on 
his  second  marriage,  selected  a  Boston  lady.  The  marriage  is 
morganatic — that  is  to  say,  the  Church  blesses  it,  but  the  lady  not 
being  royal,  the  law  will  not  recognize  her  as  queen.  Countess 
d'Edla,  as  she  is  called,  is  much  respected  in  Lisbon.  When  the 
General  called  she  escorted  him  through  the  various  treasure 
rooms  of  the  palace  and  seemed  delighted  to  meet  one  of  her 
countrymen,  and  especially  one  who  had  ruled  her  country. 
Countess  d'Edla  seems  to  have  had  a  romantic  career.  She 
studied  music,  and  came  to  sine  in  Lisbon.  Here  Don  Fernando 
made  an  acquaintance  which  ripened  into  love,  and  in  1869 
she  became  his  wife.  Don  Fernando,  like  his  son  the  king,  is 
an  accomplished  man,  skilled  in  languages  and  literature,  with 
an  especial  interest  in  America.  He  talked  to  General  Grant 
about  California  and  the  Pacific  coast,  and  expressed  a  desire 
to  visit  it.  His  majesty  has  a  curious  and  wonderful  collection 
of  pictures,  bric-a-brac,  old  armor  and  old  furniture — one  of 
the  most  curious  and  interesting  houses  in  Europe.  He  is  fond 
of  painting,  and  showed  us  with  pride  some  of  his  painting  on 
porcelain. 

Finally  Don  Fernando  gave  us  a  pressing  invitation  to  visit 
his  palace  at  Cintra.  A  visit  to  Cintra  was  down  in  our  pro- 
gramme, but  the  king's  invitation  put  the  palace  at  our  dispo- 
sal, a  privilege  rarely  given.  Cintra  is  about  fifteen  miles  from 
Lisbon,  and  we  were  compelled  to  go  early  in  the  morning. 
Our  party  included  the  General  and  his  wife,  Mr.  Dimon,  our 
Consul ;  Viscount  Pernes,  and  Mr.  Cunha  de  Maier,  formerly 
Portuguese  Consul  General  in  the  United  States,  and  author  of 
a  history  of  the  United  States  in  Portuguese.  Mr.  Moran,  our 
Minister,  was  unable  to  join  us  on  account  of  indisposition. 
The  drive  was  attractive,  through  a  rolling,  picturesque  country, 
with  cool  breezes  coming  in  from  the  sea  that  made  overcoats 
pleasant.      Cintra   is  one  of  the   famous  spots  in   Europe,   but 


-  .  .  PORTUGAL. 

5<H 

when  one  speaks  of  it  he  turns  almost  by  instinct  to  "  Childe 
Harold."  Vou  will  find  Byron's  majestic  stanzas  describing 
Cintra  in  the  first  canto: 

"  The  horrid  crags,  by  toppling  convent  crowned, 
The  cork  trees  hoar  that  clothe  the  shaggy  steep, 
The  mountain  moss  by  scorching  skies  imbrowned, 
The  sunken  glen,  whose  sunless  shrubs  must  creep, 
The  tender  azure  of  the  unruffled  deep, 
The  orange  tints  that  gild  the  greenest  bough, 
The  torrents  that  from  cliff  to  valley  leap, 
The  vine  on  high,  the  willow  branch  below, 

Mixed  in  one  mighty  scene,  with  varied  beauty  glow. 

"  Then  slowly  climb  the  many-winding  way, 

And  frequent  turn  to  linger  as  you  go, 

From  loftier  rocks  new  loveliness  survey, 

And  rest  ye  at  "  Our  Lady's  House  of  Woe," 

Where  frugal  monks  their  little  relics  show, 

And  sundry  legends  to  the  stranger  tell ; 

Here  impious  men  have  punished  been,  and  lo  ! 

Deep  in  yon  cave  Honorias  long  did  dwell, 
In  hope  to  merit  heaven  by  making  earth  a  hell." 

Nearly  seventy  years  have  passed  since  Byron  visited  Cin- 
tra, and  the  picture  is  as  perfect  now  as  when  drawn.  There 
was  some  difficulty  in  finding  the  cork  trees,  and  General  Grant 
began  to  be  skeptical  as  to  their  existence  and  was  thinking  of 
offering  a  reward  to  Mr.  Dimon  to  find  one.  But  the  consul 
redeemed  Byron's  veracity  as  a  painter  of  scenery  by  bringing 
us  to  a  small  cork  grove  on  the  side  of  the  mountain.  Many 
changes  have  taken  place  since  Byron  was  here.  The  "toppling 
convent"  was  seized  by  the  Government,  and  in  time  became 
the  property  of  Don  Fernando,  and  at  a  vast  expense  he  has 
rebuilt  it  into  a  chateau  or  palace,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in 
the  world.  The  "  horrid  crags  "  are  traversed  by  good  roads, 
and  we  ride  upon  our  donkeys  as  easily  as  we  could  ride  up 
Fifth  Avenue.  The  mountain  moss  and  the  sunken  glens  have 
all  been  covered  with  a  rich  vegetation,  notably  of  the  camellia, 
which  is  rarely  seen  in  this  latitude,  but  which  his  majesty  has 
made  to  grow  in  profusion.      Our  Lady's  House  of  Woe  is  the 


LANDSCAPE    VIEWS. 


545 


palace  of  a  prince,  and  as  we  ride  under  the  overarching  door- 
way attendants  in  royal  livery  are.  waiting.  The  house  is  in 
Norman-Gothic  style,  and  the  rooms  are  what  you  might  see  in 
other  palaces.  There  is  a  small  chapel  of  rare  beauty,  with  ex- 
quisite carvings  in  marble  and  jasper  illustrating  the  passion  of 
our  Lord.  The  beauty  of  Cintra  is  seen  in  its  fullness  as  you 
stand  on  the  lofty  turrets.  It  is  built  on  the  summit  of  a  rocky 
hill  three  thousand  feet  high.  The  descent  on  one  side  to  the 
village  is  a  triumph  of 
exquisite  gardening. 
On  the  other  side  the 
descent  is  almost  pre- 
cipitous. You  look 
from  the  giddy  height 
at  the  trees  and  the 
tumbled  masses  of 
rock,  tossed  and  heap- 
ed in  some  volcanic 
age.  You  see  the 
landscape  rise  and 
swell  in  undulating 
beauty,  and  the  length- 
e  n  i  n  g  shadows  rip- 
pling over  it.  Far  off 
are  the  lines  of  Torres 
Vedras,  built  by  Wel- 
lington's armies  to  de- 
fend Lisbon  from  the 
French.  Beyond  is  the  sea,  gleaming  like  amber  and  pearl.  It 
was  over  that  sea  that  Vasco  cle  Gama  sailed,  and  from  this  lofty 
summit  Kingf  Manuel  watched  his  comine,  and  in  time  saw  him 
come,  bringing  tribute  and  empire  from  the  Indies.  You  can  see, 
if  you  look  carefully,  the  outlines  of  Mafra  palace,  built  to  rival 
the  Escurial.  You  see  the  Tagus  spreading  out  to  the  sea, 
forcing  its  way  through  forests  and  hills  and  valleys  until  it 
falls  into  the  ocean's  arms.  Lisbon  lies  under  the  Monsanto 
hills,  but  the  view  sweeps  far  beyond  Lisbon  until  it  is  lost  in 
35 


FUWER    OF    BELEM  — LISBON. 


546 


PORTUGAL. 


the  ocean.  There  was  a  fascination  in  this  view  that  made  us 
loath  to  leave  it,  and  for  a  long-  time  we  lingered,  watching 
every  tint  and  shadow  of  the  picture  under  the  changing  sun- 
light.     It  is  indeed  "the  glorious  Eden  "  of  Byron's  verse. 


CHATEAU    OF    MONTSERRAT. 


There  was  a  long  ride  through  the  gardens  and  the  woods 
on  our  donkeys  until  we  came  to  Montserrat.  It  was  here  that 
Beckford,  author  of  "Vathek,"  whom  Byron  calls  "England's 
wealthiest  son,"  built  a  chateau.  The  view  is  almost  as  beautiful 
as  that  from  the  towers  of  Don  Fernando's  palace.  Beckford's 
house  came  into  the  possession  of  a  wealthy  English  merchant 
named  Cook,  but  upon  whom  the  king  has  lately  conferred  the 


MONTSERRA  T. 


547 


title  of  Viscount  of  Montserrat.  Mr.  Cook  has  spent  avast  sum 
of  money  upon  the  house  and  grounds.  The  house  is  in  the 
Oriental  style — a  long  parallelogram  in  the  center,  with  two 
oval  wings,  and  all  surrounded  with  columns  and  balconies,  from 
which  you  can  look  out  upon  the  valley,  the  plains  that  sweep 
toward  the  sea,  the  sea  alone  breaking  the  horizon.  The 
grounds,  however,  are  among  the  finest  in  Europe  for  the  value 
and  rarity  of  the  plants  and  the  care  with  which  all  is  preserved. 
Notwithstanding  its  beauty,  Mr.  Cook  only  spends  two  months 
of  the  year  at  Montserrat.  His  other  months  are  spent  in  Eng- 
land managing  his  affairs.  There  is  an  old  royal  palace  to  be 
seen,  which  was  the  Alhambra  of  the  Moors  in  their  da}-  of 
triumph.  The  kings  of  Portugal  lived  here  before  the  discovery 
of  America,  and  one  of  the  legends  goes  back  to  a  century  be- 
fore that  time.  The  palace  is  a  large  straggling  building,  with 
many  chambers,  and  as  it  is  no  longer  used  as  a  royal  residence, 
the  General  was  curious  to  know  why  it  could  not  be  rented  as 
a  summer  boarding-house  and  made  to  contribute  to  the  reve- 
nues of  the  king.  In  its  day  it  was,  no  doubt,  a  pleasant  home  ; 
but  with  the  three  or  four  vast  palaces  in  Lisbon  and  its  suburbs, 
palaces  with  modern  comforts,  the  old  Moorish  castle  can  well 
be  kept  as  one  of  the  monuments  of  the  nation. 

We  walked  and  drove  around  Cintra  village.  General  Grant 
was  so  charmed  with  the  place  that  he  regretted  he  could  not 
remain  longer.  There  was  a  royal  engagement  bidding  him  to 
Lisbon,  so  we  dined  at  Victor's  Hotel,  and  as  the  night  shadows 
came  clown  bundled  into  our  carriages  for  the  long  drive  home. 
The  air  was  clear,  the  sky  was  bright,  and  it  was  plesant  to 
bound  over  the  stony  roads  and  watch  the  brown  fields;  to 
pass  the  taverns,  where  peasants  were  laughing  and  chatting 
over  their  wine  ;  to  roll  into  the  city,  and  feel  the  breezes  from 
the  river  as  we  came  to  our  hotel.  We  had  made  a  long  jour- 
ney, and  the  hills  we  climbed  made  it  fatiguing.  But  no  one 
spoke  of  fatigue,  only  of  the  rapturous  beauty  which  we  had 
seen.  Cintra  itself  is  worth  a  long  journey  to  see,  and  to  be 
remembered  when  seen  as  a  dream  of  Paradise. 


Q£i<ft\P 


CUKDOVA. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 


SPAIN. 


)T  was  late  in  the  evening  and  a  heavy  rain  was  falling 
when  General  Grant  and  his  party  reached  Cordova. 
The  governor  of  the  city  and  the  authorities  were 
waiting  at  the  station.  After  a  lonof  ride  it  was 
pleasant  to  rest,  even  in  the  indifferent  condition  of  comfort 
provided  in  a  Spanish  inn.  There  was  a  visit  to  the  theater,  a 
ramble  about  the  streets,  which  is  General  Grant's  modern 
fashion  of  taking  possession  of  a  town;  there  was  a  stroll  up 
the  Roman  bridge,  the  arches  of  which  are  as  stout  and  fresh 
as  if  the  workmen  had  just  laid  down  their  tools.  There  was  a 
visit  to  a  Moorish  mill  in  which  the  millers  were  grinding  wheat. 
There  was  the  casino  and  the  ascent  of  a  tower  from  which 
Andalusia  is  seen  spreading  out  before  us  green  and  smiling. 
And   this  sums   up   Cordova.      What   you    read    of  its    ancient 

548 


cord  or.  i.  240 

Roman  and  Moorish  splendor,  all  traces  of  it  have  vanished, 
and  you  feel  as  you  wind  and  unwind  yourself  through  the  tor- 
tuous streets  that  you  are  in  a  forgotten  remnant  of  Spain  ;  that 
civilization  has  changed  its  course,  as  rivers  at  home  sometimes 
do,  and  run  into  a  new  channel,  leaving  Cordova  to  one  side. 
The  only  evidence  of  modern  life  is  the  railway  station. 

I  have  been  reading  an  account  of  Cordova  as  it  flourished 
lone  before  Columbus  discovered  America.      I   read  that   it  was 

o 

built  by  the  Phoenicians,  and  that  when  Hannibal  invaded  Italy 
Cordova  followed  his  standard.  Here  are  the  very  words  from 
the  Latin  historian  relating  that  adventure;  "  Nee  decus  auria- 
ferree — cessavit  Corduba  terra."  Seneca  and  Lucan  were  born 
at  Cordova.  The  Romans  founded  a  celebrated  university  here. 
After  Roman  and  Goth  had  had  their  empire  it  became  a 
Moorish  town,  and  under  the  Moors  attained  the  height  of  its 
splendor.  If  you  can  believe  the  Moorish  chronicles  you  could 
travel  ten  miles  from  the  center  of  Cordova,  the  lights  from 
the  dwellings  illuminating  the  way.  Buildings  ran  twenty- 
six  miles  in  one  direction  and  six  in  another.  The  country 
dependent  on  it  supported  three  thousand  towns  and  villages. 
The  people  in  those  days  were  proud  of  their  dress,  the  univer- 
sity, the  wine  shops,  and  especially  gloried  in  their  mosque.  It 
is  all  that  remains  of  their  forgotten  splendor.  There  were 
pleasure  gardens  with  all  kinds  of  fruits,  among  them  the 
luscious  peach,  the  very  taste  of  which  has  gone  from  memory. 
There  was  a  palace  of  which  not  a  stone  can  be  discovered, 
which,  according  to  the  chronicles,  must  have  surpassed  any 
achievement  of  modern  royalty.  In  this  palace  were  more  than 
four  thousand  columns,  and  doors  of  varied  decorations  to  the 
number  of  fifteen  thousand.  The  Romans  came  and  razed  it  to 
the  ground,  and  there  is  no  remnant  of  its  glory  nor  an)'  vestige 
of  its  ancient  or  medieval  splendor  but  the  stone  bridges  across 
the  river  built  by  the  Romans,  and  the  famous  mosque,  now 
called  a  cathedral,  built  by  the  Moors. 

It  was  pleasant  while  at  Cordova  to  meet  Mr.  Hett,  the 
American  Secretary  of  Legation  at  Paris,  and  his  wife,  who 
were  returning  to  France  from  a  holidav  in  the   Peninsula.      In 


55° 


SPAIN. 


the  morning  the  mosque  was  visited.  We  had  thought  that  it 
might  be  better  to  visit  the  mosque  alone,  without  state  or  cere- 
mony, but  the  authorities  of  Cordova  were  in  an  advanced  stage 
of  courtesy,  and  our  visit  was  in  state.  It  seemed  almost  like 
a  desecration — this  dress  and  parade  within  these  unique  and 
venerable  walls.  The  mosque  is  even  now  among  the  wonders 
of  Europe.  It  stands  on  the  site  of  an  ancient  temple  of  Janus. 
Eleven  centuries  ago  the  Moors  resolved  to  build  a  temple  to  the 
worship  of  God  and  Mohammed  his  prophet,  which  should  surpass 


MOSQUE —  CORDOVA. 


all  other  temples  in  the  world.  Out  of  this  resolution  came  this 
building.  You  can  see  even  now  the  mosque  in  its  day  justi- 
fied the  extravagant  commendations  of  the  Arabian  historians. 
There  was  an  inclosed  court-yard,  in  which  orange  trees  were 
growing  and  priests  walking  up  and  down,  taking  the  morning 
air.  This  inclosure  seemed  to  be  a  bit  out  of  Islam,  and  it 
looked  almost  like  a  profanation  of  Moslem  rites  to  see  men  in 
attendance  wearing  the  garb  of  Rome — so  cool,  so  quiet,  so 
retired,  so  sheltered  from  the  outer  world  that  one  could  well 
imagine  it  to  have  been  the  place  of  refuge  and  rest  which 
Mohammed  intended  as  the  special  purpose  of  every  mosque. 
As  you  enter,  the  first  impression  is  as  of  a  wilderness  of  low 


MOSQUE  AT  CORDOVA.  „, 

columns  that  run  in  all  directions.  These  columns  were  for- 
merly whitewashed  by  the  Christians  after  the  taking  of  Cordova, 
but  under  Iasbella's  government  the  whitewash  was  removed,  and 
you  now  see  the  ancient  red  and  white  brick  walls  and  precious 
stones  of  which  they  are  made.  There  is  a  tradition  that  most 
of  these  columns  were  made  out  of  the  materials  of  die  ancient 
Roman  temple  which  stood  on  this  site,  and  that  some  were 
sent  from  the  temples  of  Carthage.  It  was  easy  to  see  that 
they  were  not  the  work  of  any  one  mind,  but  rather  represent 
the  enterprise  of  the  builders  in  rummaging  among  other  ruins, 
or  the  generosity  of  priests  and  rulers  who  showed  their  desire 
to  stand  well  with  the  governor  of  Cordova  by  sending  a  quan- 
tity of  columns  for  the  mosque.  In  this  way  it  happens  that 
some  of  the  columns  are  of  jasper,  others  of  porphyry,  others  of 
choice  marbles.  Some  you  notice  are  short,  and  have  had  to 
be  supplemented  by  mechanical  contrivances.  But  although  a 
close  examination  of  the  mosque  shows  these  differences,  and 
really  adds  to  its  interest,  the  general  effect  is  unique  and  im- 
posing. You  note  with  impatience  that  the  governors  under 
Charles  V.  had  a  large  part  of  this  incomparable  series  of 
arches  removed  to  build  a  modern  chapel,  and,  although  the 
chapel  was  not  without  interest  in  respect  to  woodwork  and 
tapestry,  its  presence  here  seems  a  violence  to  all  the  laws  of 
art,  and  one  can  understand  the  chagrin  of  Charles  V.,  who, 
when  he  examined  the  mosque  for  the  first  time  in  1526  and 
saw  what  had  been  done  in  the  building  of  this  chapel,  said  : 
"  You  have  built  here  what  any  one  might  have  built  anywhere 
else,  but  you  have  destroyed  what  was  unique  in  the  world." 

It  is  difficult  to  give  an  exact  description  of  the  mosque. 
Its  value  lies  in  the  impression  it  makes  on  you,  and  in  the  fact 
that  it  is  an  almost  perfect  monument  of  Moslem  civilization  in 
Spain.  There  is  the  ever-recurring  Oriental  arch,  the  inventor 
of  which  you  sometimes  think  must  have  found  his  type  in  the 
orange.  There  are  elaborate  and  gorgeous  decorations  of 
the  sacred  places  of  the  mosque,  where  the  Koran  was  kept, 
where  the  guilty  ones  sought  refuge  and  unfortunate  ones 
succor,   where  justice  was   administered  and  the  laws  of    the 


552 


SPAIN. 


Koran  expounded.  It  all  seems  as  clear  and  fresh — so  genial 
is  this  Andalusian  atmosphere — as  it  came  from  the  hand  of  the 
faithful  kings  who  built  it.  As  one  strolls  through  the  arches, 
studying  each  varying  phase  of  Oriental  taste,  the  voices  of  the 
priests  chanting  the  morning  service  and  the  odor  of  incense 


PLACE   SAN 


are  borne  upon  the  air.  It  is  startling  to  find  Christians  in  the 
performance  of  their  sacred  office  within  the  walls  of  a  building 
consecrated  by  the  patience  and  devotion  of  the  unfortunate 
Moors.  The  lesson  you  always  learn  in  Spain  is  what  you  see 
to-day,  and  what  you  admire  as  the  work  of  destiny  are  only 
phases  of  changing  and  vanishing  civilizations.  The  Moor  may 
have  mused  over  the  ruins  of  Roman   splendor  even  as  we  are 


S  FAILLE.  r~i 

553 

musing  over  the  monuments  of  the  Moor's  pride;  and  even 
after  we  are  gone,  others  may  look  with  wondering  eyes  upon 
that  monument  of  Christian  art  and  fanaticism,  the  Escurial. 

From  Cordova  we  journeyed  south  to  the  quaint  and  beau- 
tiful city  of  Seville,  where  we  arrived  on  the  morning  of  Decem- 
ber 4th. 

Our  stay  in  Seville  was  marked  by  one  incident  of  a  per- 
sonal character  worthy  of  veneration — the  visit  of  General 
Grant  to  the  Duke  of  Montpensier.  The  day  after  General 
Grant  arrived  in  Seville  the  Duke  called  on  him,  and  the  next 
day  was  spent  by  the  General  and  his  party  in  the  hospitable 
halls  and  gardens  of  St.  Telmo.  The  Duke  regretted  that,  his 
house  being  in  mourning  on  account  of  the  death  of  his  daugh- 
ter, Queen  Mercedes,  he  could  not  give  General  Grant  a  more 
formal  welcome  than  a  quiet  luncheon  party.  The  Duke,  the 
Duchess  and  their  daughter  were  present,  and  after  luncheon 
the  General  and  Duke  spent  an  hour  or  two  strolling  through 
the  gardens,  which  are  among  the  most  beautiful  in  Europe. 
The  Duke  spoke  a  great  deal  of  his  relations  with  America, 
and  especially  of  the  part  which  his  nephews  had  played  in  the 
war  against  the  South. 

In  no  part  of  the  peninsula  does  a  traveler  returning  to 
Spain  see  so  many  changes  as  in  Seville.  You  are  reminded 
of  the  transformation  that  has  been  wrought  over  Washington 
— dear,  dirty,  drowsy  old  Washington,  as  it  was  before  the  war 
— a  sprawling  village  of  mud  and  marble,  and  what  it  is  now, 
among  the  most  beautiful  cities.  In  the  olden  days  Seville  was 
a  beggars'  opera.  The  streets  seemed  to  have  been  neglected 
since  the  Moorish  surrender.  The  principal  occupation  was 
dozing  in  the  sun.  You  could  not  walk  to  the  church  without 
going  through  a  swarm  of  beggars.  It  was  beggary  militant, 
almost  briLrandasfe.  The  beo^ars  held  the  town,  and  there  was 
nothing  but  surrender  or  flight.  If  you  came  from  the  out- 
side world  you  were  their  lawful  prey,  and  sight-seeing  was,  as 
a  general  thing,  leading  a  procession  of  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren in  all  conditions  of  misery — cripples,  dwarfs,  blind.  A 
shrewd   friend   of  mine   then   resident   in   Seville  told  me   that 


554 


SPAIN. 


his  plan  was  to  hire  a  beggar  and  pay  him  three  or  four  francs 
a  week,  on  condition  that  the  others  did  not  disturb  him.  His 
plan  was  a  success.  The  moment  it  was  known  that  he  had 
capitulated  and  made  himself  a  subject  and  tribute-payer  he 
was  unmolested.  That  is  changed.  There  are  a  few  beggars 
in  Seville,  but  not  one-half  as  many  as  in  Dublin. 

In    those   days  Seville  seemed    a   city  in    which    to   dream. 
It  was   so    Spanish — I   mean   in  the  sense   in   which   the    world 


A    SPANISH    TAVERN. 


understands  Spanish.  It  was  Spanish  as  we  see  the  type  in 
comedies.  The  whole  town  was  so  quaint,  so  unlike  anything 
in  our  own  world.  The  streets  ran  in  all  directions.  There 
were  no  sidewalks.  Men,  women,  donkeys,  water-carriers,  all 
streamed  along  in  friendly  fashion  over  narrow,  winding  ways 
paved  in  stone.  You  saw  the  warm  tints  and  the  glowing 
color  of  the  South,  the  beauty  of  Andalusia.  The  men  wore 
costumes  appertaining  to  the  province,  and  had  not  fallen  into 
French  ways.  The  damsels  wore  the  veil  and  mantilla.  They 
had  not  learned  the  vanity  of  bonnets.     It  was  like  stepping 


THE  STREETS   OF  SEVILLE.  r^r 

back  two  centuries — back  to  the  world  of  Cervantes — to  walk 
along  the  street  called  Sierpes.  This  was  the  Broadway  of 
Seville,  or,  to  be  more  exact,  the  Broadway  and  Fifth  avenue 
combined,  for  here  people  came  to  shop  as  well  as  stroll.  It 
was  the  oldest  street,  only  a  few  feet  wide,  with  the  strangest 
mingling  of  costumes  and  decorations.  Soldiers  in  their  jaunty 
uniforms,  bull-fighters  with  their  queues  of  hair  and  jackets 
trimmed  with  braid,  peasants  with  pork-pie  hats  a  century 
old,  faded  woolen  jackets  and  breeches;  peasant  lasses  with 
gaudy,  jaunty  costumes;  bakers  serving  bread  from  donkeys, 
the  donkey  decorated  in  the  Alhambra  style,  the  hair  on  his  hide 
carved  into  shapes  as  curious  as  the  dome  in  the  Alcazar;  sing- 
ing Osiris  with  guitars,  the  hair  falling  over  the  shoulders  and 
no  adornment  beyond  a  rose  or  a  ribbon  ;  shovel-hatted  priests 
with  long  black  robes,  an  important  feature  of  the  society. 
There  were  the  religious  processions,  some  imaged  saint  or 
virgin  held  aloft,  with  a  swarm  of  priests  and  attendants;  in- 
cense bearers,  canopy  bearers,  priests  chanting  their  offices, 
and  all  the  world  hurrying  to  its  knees  as  it  elbowed  its  way 
along. 

Something  of  this  you  may  still  see  on  the  street  called 
Sierpes,  but  it  is  only  memory.  The  priests  are  there,  but  not 
so  many  of  them.  The  beggars  have  gone,  let  us  hope  into 
better  employments.  The  donkeys  hold  their  place,  but  the 
decorated  donkey  is  not  so  familiar.  There  are  fewer  stores  in 
which  you  can  buy  scapula  and  rosary.  The  sewing  machine 
has  come,  and  the  walls  are  covered  with  placards  telling  hew 
each  machine  has  won  more  medals  than  the  other — puzzling, 
no  doubt,  to  the  credulous  Spanish  mind.  The  hotel  has  as- 
sumed continental  airs,  especially  in  charges  for  coffee  in  the 
morning  and  candles.  The  narrow  streets  along  which  you 
could  stroll  and  dream,  and  feel  the  drowsy  insouciance  of  the 
place,  and  summon  up  the  legends  and  poems  of  Seville — the 
wandering,  tortuous  streets  in  which  you  went  around  and 
about,  sure  to  lose  your  way  and  never  to  regain  it  until  you 
found  the  cathedral  tower,  and  worked  your  way  back  as 
though  you  were  working  out  an   observation    in    navigation — 


556 


SR  UN. 


are  now  given  over  to  hurried  business  people  and  groups 
talking  politics.  Down  by  the  river  it  was  pleasant  to  stroll 
and  see  the  beggars  loll  in  the  sun,  watching  their  fellow  beings 
pack  oranges.  If  one  person  were  really  at  work  over  his 
oranges  there  were  a  dozen  standing  by  and  looking  on,  smoking 
cigarettes,  telling  him  about  the  bulls  that  came  in  the  evening, 
what  fun  it  was  sitting  up  all  night  that  they  might  see  the 
bulls  and  poke  them  with  sticks,  idling  and  talking  politics. 
Seville  was  a  republican  town  in  those  days.  But  the  republi- 
can sentiment  has  chilled  since  it  has  been  discovered  that  even 
republicans  must  work.  An  illusion  of  this  kind  was  fatal  to  a 
missionary  enterprise.  A  clergyman  came  to  Spain  and  organ- 
ized a  church  upon  good  Presbyterian  ideas,  the  people  to  rule 
the  church  and  the  pastor  be  a  servant.  The  church  succeeded 
at  first,  because  the  socialists  joined  it  under  the  impression  that 
this  principle  of  church  government,  so  unlike  the  absolute,  im- 
perial sway  of  Rome,  was  socialism  in  a  new  form.  But  when 
they  found  they  had  to  abandon  the  Virgin  and  purgatory,  and 
the  saints,  and  the  other  comforts  of  faith,  and  come  down  to 
the  dry  head  of  Presbyterianism,  with  eternal  damnation  thrown 
in,  the  church  vanished.  The  Spaniard  is  a  gambler.  Even 
in  his  religion  he  does  not  want  a  lottery  in  which  there  are  no 
prizes. 

As  I  was  saying,  you  stroll  down  by  the  river  and  see  ships 
in  Seville — steamships  and  sailing  vessels — some  of  them,  as 
you  note  with  quickening  heart-throb,  under  the  American  flag. 
And  the  bridge  over  which  the  beggars  used  to  crouch  and 
watch  the  Guadalquiver  is  now  a  stream  of  industry — such  as  it 
is — not  a  New  York  stream,  mad,  furious,  dangerous,  rushing, 
but  wonderful  for  Seville.  Chimneys  adorn  the  horizon — chim- 
neys with  smoke  from  furnaces,  where  men  work,  and  which 
were  not  here  five  years  ago.  Avenues  and  gardens  are  laid 
out,  and  the  trees  are  young.  The  new  town  is  inclosing  the 
old  one,  and  Seville — no  longer  the  dreamy  Seville  of  Figaro 
and  Don  Juan — is  an  old  town  surrounded  by  a  new  one — the 
fourteenth  century  encompassed  by  the  nineteenth.  It  seems 
like  losing  a  familiar  friend  or  the  passing  away  of  early  asso- 


SEVILLE. 


0  3/ 


ciations,  the  change  that  has  come  upon  Seville.  It  is  a  viola- 
tion of  all  poesy  to  see  a  real  smoking  chimney  and  people  at 
work.  It  was  almost  with  a  pang  that  I  heard  of  an  express 
t  r  a  i  n  between 
Madrid  and  Se- 
v  i  1 1  e  —  one  a 
week,  and  soon 
to  be  two  a  week. 
Why  could  it  not 
live  on  iorever 
in  this  humming, 
droning  fashion 
— a  picturesque, 
inviting  town 
for  idle  men  to 
visit  and  dream 
the  hours  away 
i  n  w  a  n  dering 
throug  h  the 
naves  of  St. 
Griselda  and  the 
gardens  of  the 
Alcazar?  But 
the  clock  moves 
on  and  on,  and 
you  cannot  turn 
back  the  hands, 
and  the  clock  of 
nineteenth-century  civilization  is  striking  every  hour  in  Spain. 

And  yet  Seville  even  now,  notwithstanding  steam  and  rail- 
ways and  French  cloths — Seville  is  very  beautiful,  and  if  you 
want  to  dream  there  are  cozy  spots  still  left.  You  can  see 
what  it  must  have  been  in  happy  days,  when  people  existed  with 
no  care  of  living — drank  in  the  sunshine  and  ate  the  fruits  of 
the  ground — and  cared  only  for  the  mass  and  the  bull-fight,  and 
knew  nothing  of  the  outside  soaring  world  of  Bonapartes  and 
Wellingtons  that  blazed  and   burned.      But   the   fire   came   to 


GATEWAY — SEVILLE. 


558 


SPAIN. 


Seville,  and  from  thence  we  date  the  new  order  of  things  which 
makes  such  manifest  progress  every  day.  When  the  Bastile 
fell  old  Seville  fell  with  it,  like  so  many  other  ancient  forms ;  and 
since  Frenchmen  came  and  broke  down  the  Inquisition  and 
robbed  the  churches  and  put  their  bayonets  through  the  roots 
of  so  many  august  growths,  it  has  only  been  a  question  of  time, 
this  coming  of  steam  and  electricity  and  newspapers  and  the  other 
attributes  of  our  cold,  exacting,  debt-paying  generation.  Over 
Seville  how  many  waves  of  civilization  have  rolled — rolled  and 
washed  and  swept  and  tossed  and  left  so  little  behind  !  That  is 
the  puzzle  in  these  beautiful  Spanish  lands.  What  has  become 
of  it  all  ?  The  gold  of  the  Americas,  for  instance,  that  once 
drenched  this  land,  that  comes  in  even  now  in  a  feebler  stream 
from  poor  buried  Cuba — what  has  become  of  it  all  ?  Has  it 
vanished  like  the  water  which  washes  over  the  sand  and 
straightway  leaves  the  beach  as  hard  and  as  dry  as  before  ? 
For  ages  these  tides  have  swept  over  Seville,  over  all  of  Anda- 
lusia, laden  with  the  prizes  of  a  prolific  civilization.  First  came 
the  Phoenician,  and  no  shadow  of  Phoenicia  remains.  Then  the 
Romans  were  here,  even  Julius  Caesar,  who  took  a  pride  in 
Seville  and  proposed  making  it  a  new  Rome.  But,  beyond 
some  coins  and  masonry,  what  trace  of  Rome  remains  ?  The 
Goths  came  and  vanished,  and  were  succeeded  by  the  Moors. 
These  two  civilizations  blend  in  Seville,  and  the  interest  of  the 
town  dates  from  their  dominion.  For  five  centuries  the  Moors 
were  masters,  and  nothing  is  so  attractive  to  the  traveler  as 
the  remains  of  their  art  and  industry.  Then  came  the  Austrian 
Charles,  with  his  faculty  of  spoiling  and  patching,  of  trying  to 
engraft  his  fierce,  stern  forms  upon  the  gentle,  winning  civiliza- 
tion of  the  Moor. 

While  the  waves  have  washed  and  flowed,  leaving  no  result 
— I  mean  no  accumulated  result  as  one  would  expect  from  so 
much  wealth — while  Seville  has  been  steadily  falling  from  a 
population  that  in  the  eleventh  century  was  three  hundred  thou- 
sand, in  the  sixteenth  eighty-six  thousand,  and  now,  even  with 
brighter  times,  is  only  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand,  her 
beauty  remains.      That  Time  has  not  destroyed.      It  is  blended 


SEVILLE. 


559 


beauty.  Roman,  Gothic,  Moorish,  Christian,  you  will  find 
them  all  here,  in  faded  fashion,  without  the  ancient  splendor, 
but  blended,  interwoven.  What  must  it  have  been  in  the  days 
of  commercial  prosperity,  when  the  enterprise  and  arms  of 
Spain  were  encircling  the  world  !  One  can  fancy  these  nar- 
row streets  thrilling'  with  the  last  news  from  Peru,  or  wondering; 
what  untoward  storm  detains  the  mail  from  Mexico.  Dolores 
looks  in  tears  from  her  lattice  window,  or  is  prostrate  before  the 
Virgin,  thinking  of  Fernando,  who  is  under  Cortes  or  Luis  who 
found  his  fate  under  Pizarro.  Or  go  back  another  age  and 
fancy  all  Seville  fluttering  with  this  strange  news  from  over  the 


it1- 


THE   ALCAZAR — SEVILLE. 


seas  —  that  even  the  dark  ocean 
has  been  forced,  that  the  cross 
has  been  planted  on  a  new  conti- 
nent. And  this  grave,  seafaring 
Italian,  who  passes  on   in  modest 

state  to  the  palace  of  his  king  and  queen — this  man  has  done  the 
marvel,  and  the  cost  of  it  to  the  treasury  not  more  than  the  de- 
corations of  the  palace  audience  chamber.      Behold,  all   Seville 


5<5° 


SPAIN. 


is  out  to  see  the  strange  procession — gold  and  silver  and  pre- 
cious woods  and  strange  fruits  and  spices  —  such  wonderful 
things  as  were  never  known  even  in  this  land,  where  the  ancients 
placed  the  Elysian  fields.  It  is  the  last  arrival  from  the  Indies, 
the  Indies  of  America,  where  God  and  the  Virgin  have  planted 
the  cross.  Those  were  the  glorious,  golden  clays,  and  we  can 
well  imagine,  with  so  much  wealth  pouring  into  Seville,  and  so 
much  enterprise  for  her  sons,  fame  and  fortune  for  whoever 
carried  a  sword — even  for  swineherds,  from  Estremadura,  like 
Pizarro  and  Cortes — that  it  must  have  been  the  seat  of  luxury 
and  power. 

One  wonders,  however,  if  true  wealth  comes  in  this  fashion. 
What  the  sea  washes  toward  us  it  washes  from  us — the  sand, 
perhaps,  excepted.  How  much  better  for  Seville  if  she  had 
found  wealth  in  her  own  soil,  in  the  industry  of  her  people — 
gold  in  her  cornfields  and  silver  in  her  vineyards  !  What  came 
from  America  did  no  good  to  any  one  but  the  Church,  and,  as  a 
result,  even  the  Church,  robbed  as  it  has  been  by  Frenchmen 
and  revolutionists,  is  the  richest  in  Europe.  The  money  that 
came  from  America  is  not  in  monuments  or  in  works  ot  utility. 
The  Escurial  seems  to  be  the  only  exception,  and  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  how  money  can  be  wasted  I  suppose  there  is  no  more 
striking  monument  in  the  world.  America  did  Spain  more 
harm  than  good,  so  long  as  these  mines  across  the  sea  only 
trouble  the  mines  at  home.  Long  enjoyment  of  money  never 
earned  and  luxuries  that  come  without  the  seeking  enervated 
the  people.  Then  there  was  the  gambling  sentiment  which 
pervades  Spain.  There  was  the  delicious  uncertainty  of  what 
could  be  found  in  America — a  mine  or  a  morass,  a  general's 
sword  or  a  grave  in  the  swamps.  It  was  chance,  always  chance, 
and  as  every  galleon  came  with  new  cargoes  and  new  achieve- 
ments— Peru,  Cuba,  Mexico,  St.  Domingo,  Florida,  Louisiana 
— dream  succeeding  dream,  more  and  more  ravishing — you  can 
well  see  how  the  world  whirled  about  them,  corruscating,  flash- 
ing, deceptive  ;  how  the  mind  abandoned  humble  home  duties 
to  look  out  over  the  seas;  how  the  modest,  sure  ways  of  life — 
a  penny  earned  and  a  penny  saved — lost  their  hold  ;   how  char- 


THE    WORSHIP   OF  THE    VIRGIN. 


561 


acter  was  unstrung,  undisciplined.  The  gambling  spirit  flou- 
rished. It  reigns  still  in  powerful,  but,  I  hope,  diminishing  influ- 
ence. It  even  affects  religion.  The  worship  of  the  Virgin,  as 
you  see  it  in  Spain,  is  only  the  gambling  spirit  in  religion.  It 
is  not  the  devotion  which  takes  the  penitent  to  pray  pardon  for 
sin  and  strength  to  do  right ;  but  all  hopes,  all  wishes,  all  fears 
are   thrown   at  her  altar,  and  prayer  becomes  an  invocation  of 

chance.  Instead  of  doing, 
the  Spaniard  waits  in  the 
sun  to  see  what  the  Virgin 
will  do  for  him.  To  the 
general  Spanish  mind  the 
Virgin  is  not  the  type  of 
chastity,  the  fountain  of 
virtue,  the  immaculate  con- 
ception, the  Mother  of  God, 
beautiful,  comforting,  a  pat- 
tern to  the  good,  a  consola- 
tion to  those  in  sorrow,  a 
radiant  example  of  all  that 
is  highest  and  noblest  in 
womanhood.  She  has  it  in 
her  power  to  give  something 
— a  husband,  a  child,  harvest 
rain,  a  donkey,  or  a  prize  in 
the  lottery.  She  is  the  Divinity  of  Chance,  and  as  such  is 
worshiped. 

O  Virgin,  well  beloved,  with  those  rapt,  seraphic  eyes,  ever 
hoverinof  over  us;  cominaf  so  close  to  one's  life,  to  the  maiden 
in  her  dreams,  the  warrior  in  his  bivouac,  the  husbandman  over 
his  vines — lady  of  consolation  and  of  hope,  who  hast  been  so 
much  in  all  those  aees  to  millions  who  have  suffered  and  be- 
lieved,  is  it  not  a  degradation  to  find  thee  here,  even  in  Catho- 
lie  Spain,  the  land  of  saints,  of  Laurence  and  Theresa,  merely 
a  goddess  of  chance,  patron  of  the  spirit  of  gambling?  And 
this  is  to  what  the  faith  of  Spain  is  rapidly  falling.  What  to 
me  is  most  striking  is  the  materialization  that  seems  to  have 
36 


SPANISH   MULETEER, 


56: 


SPAIN. 


fallen  on  religion  in  Spain.  Its  spiritual  side  is  deadened.  The 
Church  is  not  a  monitor  or  a  pattern  as  at  home,  but  an  in- 
fluence to  be  propitiated,  a  political  influence,  a  source  of  money 
and  power.  The  priest  is  not  what  he  is  at  home — a  teacher 
and  father  to  his  flock.  He  is  simply  a  leading  influential  citizen, 
educated,  and  with  about  the  same 
position  in  Spanish  society  as  a 
leader  in  New  York  politics  would 
have  in  New  York  society.  He 
is  respected  or  derided  according 
as  he  has  merit.  You  meet  him 
in   all  the  walks   of  life.     You    sit 


next  to  him 
in  the  bull 
fi  g  h  t,  jostle 
h  i  m  in  the 
theater,  hear  him  gossip  over  his 
cigarettes  in  the  cafe,  walk  with  him 
on  the  Prado.  You  have  no  more 
respect  for  his  shovel  hat  than  for  a  dapper  young  officer's 
feathered  chapeau.  The  religion  which  he  preaches  is  not  a  re- 
ligion in  our  sense — something  exalted,  which  all  men  respect, 
even  if  they  do  not  worship,  but  a  custom  of  the  country.      In- 


ANDALUSIA. 


56; 


stead  of  educating  the  people  to  a  higher  standard,  instead  of 
taking  men  up  into  the  mountains  and  showing  them  the  promised 
land,  the  Church  here  brings  itself  down  to  the  wishes  and  habits 
of  the  people.  It  is  a  political  party,  not  a  power  above  all  parties. 
The  Spaniard  attends  his  church  because  it  is  respectable,  be- 
cause he  would  rather  than  otherwise  be  on  good  terms  with 
the  Church.  Then,  as  to  him,  the  greatest  power  the  Church 
possesses  is  the  power  of  giving  of  working  miracles.  There 
is  the  hope  that  some  day  the  Virgin  may  hear  his  prayer  and 
see  that  his  appeal  for  promotion  moves  the  heart  of  the  king, 
or  that  the  first  number  that  comes  from  the  wheel  is  the  num- 
ber that  assures  him  fortune. 

I  suppose  that  a  country  falling  under  the  unchallenged 
dominion  of  any  one  church  would  discover  the  same  falling 
off  from  the  higher  forms  of  faith.  Absolute  power  has  its 
own  inherent  weakness.  There  is  no  standard  of  emulation. 
In  Spain  the  Church  is  absolute.  In  England,  America,  and 
other  countries  the  churches  are  on  their  trial  before  the  people. 
There  is  an  emulation  in  godliness.  Each  species  of  priest  is 
anxious  to  commend  and  sustain  his  own  faith.  Their  martyr- 
doms and  persecutions  are  refining  influences,  and  wherever 
churches  are  in  rivalry  there  is  always  some  persecuting  agency 
at  work,  no  matter  in  how  slight  a  degree.  England  is  a  Pro- 
testant country,  but  she  has  never  given  the  world  such  Protes- 
tantism as  was  shown  by  the  Waldensians  or  the  Huguenots. 
Spain  is  a  Catholic  country,  but  her  Catholicism  is  feeble  and 
worldly  compared  with  the  Catholic  spirit  you  see  in  Eng- 
land or  America.  Where  there  are  too  many  worshipers  there 
are  not  apt  to  be  many  saints.  The  Church  becomes  worldly 
and  careless,  following  the  world,  and  not  leading  and  en- 
nobling it. 

After  leaving  Seville  our  route  is  along  the  banks  of  the 
Guadalquiver,  sixty-seven  miles  south  to  the  seaport  town  of 
Cadiz,  where  we  arrive  on  the  beautiful  evening  of  Decem- 
ber 6th. 

You  find  here  in  Andalusia  what  seems  to  be  something- 
like  the   remnant  of  a  Moorish  custom   in  the  care  taken  of  the 


5^4 


SPAIN. 


maidens  of  Spain.  The  maiden  spends  her  days  in  a  home 
which  is  a  cloister,  or  on  the  Prado,  where  she  is  a  prisoner.  In 
some  coast  towns — Tarifa  among  them — she  adopts  the  Mos- 
lem fashion  enough  to  cover  a  part  of  her  face  with  a  veil.  In 
Cairo  the  face  is  wholly  covered,  the  nose  is  bridged  with  a 
machine  that  looks  like  a  rifle  cartridge,  and  you  only  see  two 
curious  glowing  eyes.  They  have  removed  the  veil  in  Cadiz. 
But  so  dormant  is  Spain  that  you  find  now  the  same  social  con- 


ditions which  you  read  in  the  novels  of  Cervantes  and  the  plays 
of  Calderon.  The  maiden  is  always  under  protection.  She  is 
not  to  receive  company.  She  cannot  go  forth  unless  with  a 
companion,  generally  a  wise  lady  advanced  in  years.  This  is 
the  duenna,  or  the  dragon  who  sits  in  watch  over  the  maidenly 
virtue.  The  burden  of  Spanish  comedy  is  how  to  bribe  the 
dragon  or  have  some  daring  confederate  woo  her,  as  Mephis- 
topheles  wooed  in  "  Faust,"  or  climb  in  the  window.  I  never 
thoroughly  understood  the  philosophy  of  Romeo's  courtship 
until  I  came  to  Spain.      Why  should  he  have  climbed  the  wall, 


THE  SPANISH  MAID  EX.  -g- 

or  why  should  Mercutio  make  love  to  the  nurse  ?  Why,  in  the 
end,  should  he  seek  the  intervention  of  the  friar?  One  thinks 
of  his  own  happy  prosaic  home,  where  there  are  valentines,  and 
cheap  postage,  and  Philharmonic  concerts,  and  newspapers — 
where,  in  a  pinch,  you  may  have  reasonable  rates  for  advertis- 
ing. One  remembers  how  in  that  advanced  land  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  maidens  to  sit  in  their  various  draperies  until  the  young 
men  come,  and  that  the  signal  of  their  coming  is  the  signal  for 
papa  to  go  to  his  books  and  billiards  and  mamma  to  go  to  bed. 
Why  should  Romeo,  then,  climb  over  a  fence  and  make  love 
from  under  the  silver-tipped  fruit  trees  to  a  lady  on  the  balconv  ? 
Why  should  such  a  proceeding  endanger  his  life?  In  this  Medi- 
terranean land  there  is  no  other  way  for  an  enterprising  young 
man  to  make  love,  and  nothing  would  be  more  natural  than  for 
a  Spanish  father  or  brother  to  put  a  sword  through  any  amorous 
Romeo  he  found  mooning-  under  his  balconies. 

But  men  and  women  will  love  one  another  even  in  suspi- 
cious Spain.  In  real  life  there  is  little  climbing  balconies,  just 
as  in  real  life  there  is  little  comedy  or  tragedy,  only  the  hum- 
drum day  following  the  day.  The  secluded  maiden  wins  her 
triumphs  on  the  street  or  in  the  church.  Forbidden  to  conquer 
in  the  seclusion  of  home,  she  carries  her  beauty  into  the  sun- 
shine, and  under  the  stars,  and  conquers  under  the  all-canopy- 
ing universe.  All  her  treasure  she  bears  with  her.  That  is 
one  reason  why  there  is  such  a  contrast  in  personal  decorations 
between  the  maidens  you  meet  in  the  Prado,  and  those  you 
see  on  the  Champs  Elysees,  or  on  Broadway.  She  comes  forth 
arrayed  with  all  her  taste  and  finery.  The  veil  is  seized  in  the 
braided  hair  with  jeweled  clasp,  and  falls  in  graceful  folds  over 
the  shoulder.  Frail,  floating  lacework  festoons  the  rich  stuffs 
which  enfold  her  form,  and  the  light  of  the  diamond  or  the 
pearl  flashes  out  upon  you  from  under  the  braided  hair  or  the 
waving  dimple  of  her  chin.  Around  her  wrist  many-gemmed 
bracelets  are  bound,  and  a  rosary  falls  from  her  fingers,  which 
hold  the  prayer  book.  I  am  writing  about  what  I  saw  the^ 
other  morning  more  especially,  when,  as  I  came  back  from  a 
stroll  through  the  market  place,  the  air  suddenly  awakened  with 


566 


SPAIN. 


the  church  bells  and  I  remembered  that  it  was  Sunday,  and 
along  the  narrow  streets  came  my  lady  on  her  way  to  church. 
This   is  the  hour  of  her  glory,   this   is  the   hour   she   gives  to 

prayer  and  con- 
quest. Now,  if 
there  be  bless- 
ings in  those 
eyes,  ortempta- 
t  i  o  n  s,  or  en- 
treaty, or  con- 
quest, let  them 
speak  ;  for  this 
hour  is  alone 
given.  Other 
hours  are  doom- 
ed to  the  lat- 
ticed windows, 
or  the  vague, 
distant  b  a  1  c  o- 
ny  ;  so  my  lady 
moves  along 
with  that  stately 
grace  which  you 
mark  so  well  in 
'in  '"-■  \  '$& '■%&''  Spain.  At  her 
[,jO\  J^IT11  ^  s  id  e  is  the 
duenna,  a  stiff, 
elderly    lady   in 

black,  with  eyes  partly  closed,  twirling  her  beads  with  her  thumbs 
and  mumbling  her  lips  in  prayer.  She  is  thinking  of  the  Virgin ; 
or,  perhaps,  she  recalls  her  own  days  of  hope  and  entreaty, 
when,  with  conquering  eyes  and  graceful  footsteps,  she  walked 
these  very  streets  to  church.  But  they  have  gone,  and  she  is 
now  a  dragon  herself,  and  there  are  no  more  conquests  for  her 
in  this  world,  and  nothing  remains  but  Our  Lady  of  Sorrow. 
Here,  too,  are  the  Romeos  of  Cadiz — listening,  watching,  wait- 
ing.    They  have  arrayed  themselves  for  the  encounter.     The 


THE  LOVERS.  -g- 

black  cloak  folds  over  the  breast  and  hangs  over  the  shoulder. 
You  observe  that  it  so  falls  as  to  show  the  silk  lining  of  orange 
or  purple  or  crimson.  I  suppose  these  colors  have  a  meaning, 
and  I  fancied  that  when  a  young  man  is  very  much  in  love  he 
would  show  it  by  the  color  of  the  silken  lining.  A  man,  for 
instance,  on  the  threshold  of  love,  seeing  the  mystery  just  loom- 
ing over  his  horizon,  might  express  his  bewildering  hopes  in 
orange.  An  accepted  or  triumphant  lover  could  give  way  to 
his  emotions  in  crimson,  while  the  rejected,  unhappy  soul  could 
proclaim  his  grief  in  purple. 

But  my  lady  moves  on  to  church,  her  bended  eyes  looking 
from  under  the  drooped  eyelashes,  looking  conquest  and  en- 
treaty. If  she  also  prays  as  she  fumbles  her  rosary,  it  is  to 
Our  Lady  of  Consolation.  She  moves  on  to  the  church  and 
kneels  before  the  altar.  If  she  has  made  a  conquest — if,  as  is 
most  probable,  the  conquest  has  long  been  made,  you  will  ob- 
serve a  decent  young  man  pace  slowly  after  and  kneel  as  near 
as  the  dragon  will  permit.  Of  course  they  cannot  speak.  But 
there  are  so  many  delicious  opportunities  during  the  solemn 
hours  of  the  mass  when  he  can  catch  a  glance  of  her  eyes,  or 
see  the  heaving  of  the  bosom  or  the  mantling  cheek — when, 
as  she  bends  her  head  and  strikes  her  breast,  he  can  know 
her  very  thoughts  and  send  the  same  petition  to  our  Lady 
of  Hope.  Perhaps,  if  he  is  daring,  or  has  made  interest  with 
one  of  the  church  attendants — for  I  have  been  told  that  such 
things  have  happened  in  Spain — he  may  have  a  prayer  book 
slipped  into  her  hand,  and  within  the  leaves  there  will  be 
found  a  sonnet  or  a  rhapsody.  Here,  for  instance,  is  one 
that  I  read  the  other  clay  in  one  of  the  almost  forgotten  novels 
of  Cervantes,  a  rhyme  which  a  lover  slipped  into  the  hands  of 
the  lady  of  his  love.      It  is  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue  : 

Svlvander.  Who  renders  love  subordinate  ? 
Thyrsis.  He  who  knows  how  to  be  silent. 
Sylv.  Who  subjects  love  to  his  laws  ? 
Thyrsis.  He  who  has  constancy  and  faith. 
Sylv.  And  what  arrests  him  in  his  flight  ? 
Thyrsis.  Persevering  constancy. 


5  68  SPAIN. 

Sylv.  Then  the  sweet  fruit  which  may  arise 
From  your  fond  passion  he  may  prize. 
And  though  my  smothered  tongue  be  mute, 
With  love,  faith,  soul,  I'll  gain  my  suit. 
— But  what  substantiates  love  ? 

Thyrsis.  Perpetual  return. 

Sylv.  What  instantly  extinguishes  it  ? 

Thyrsis.  Contempt  and  disdain. 

Sylv.   And  these  two  feelings  banished  ? 

Thyrsis.   His  flames  are  everlasting. 

This  is  the  hour  of  conquest,  the  consummate  hour  in  the 
maiden's  life.  There  are  the  evening  walks  on  the  Prado, 
when  glances  may  come  and  go ;  but  then  all  the  world  is  by, 
and  there  are  music,  and  dresses,  and  gossip.  The  night  falls, 
and  if  the  lover  feels  that  he  has  not  been  unwelcome  he  goes 
to  his  lady's  home.  Instead  of  sending  in  his  card,  and  hang- 
ing his  overcoat  on  the  rack,  and  waiting  in  the  parlor  until  the 
idol  of  his  dreams  comes  down,  he  knocks  at  the  barred  win- 
dow. If  there  is  no  response  he  will  play  a  serenade  on  the 
guitar.  I  am  led  to  make  this  latter  observation  more  by  what 
I  have  seen  in  operas  than  from  what  I  have  observed  in  Spain. 
Most  of  the  lovers  that  I  have  seen  at  their  barred  windows 
have  been  without  musical  instruments.  I  take  it,  therefore, 
that  the  guitar  comes  in  as  overture  perhaps,  in  the  begin- 
ning, before  Romeo  has  made  any  headway,  and  when  he 
thinks  an  air  from  "  Rigoletto  "  or  "Don  Pasquale  "  may  de- 
velop the  situation  or  entice  a  glove  or  a  ribbon.  If  Romeo 
is  known  to  the  family  of  his  Juliet  as  a  serious,  proper  per- 
son, who  has  no  day  of  dissipation  but  the  bull  fights  or  Cor- 
pus Christi,  then  he  is  allowed  to  come  to  the  barred  window, 
and  Juliet  may  talk  to  him  through  the  raised  edge  of  the 
curtain.  Perhaps  he  may  be  allowed  to  touch  her  lips  with 
his  fingers  ;  but  his  presence  at  the  window  indicates  that  he 
is  a  favored  lover.  He  never  enters  the  home  of  his  love  until 
he  comes  to  take  her  to  church.  Perhaps  in  special  cases  the 
evening  before  the  ceremony  he  may  come,  with  a  few  friends. 

It  is  as  you  saunter  along  the  streets  that  you  see  the  out- 
side life  of  Spain.     As  the   afternoon  lengthens  and  the  white 


CADIZ. 


569 


houses  become  tawny  in  the  shadows  of  the  descending  sun  it 
is  pleasant  to  stroll  out  to  the  Battery.  You  have  no  care  as 
to  your  road,  for  in  this  mazy  town  the  first  corner  into  any 
road  will  lead  to  the  Battery.  All  the  world  is  going  with  you 
— grave,  stately  seiiors  to  smoke  their  cigarettes  in  the  cooling, 
wholesome  air,  and  gracious  sehoras  in  their  bewitching  Span- 
ish costumes,  who  glance  at  you  with  their  deep,  black,  Oriental 
eyes  and  float  along.  My  best  authority  on  the  ladies  of  Cadiz 
is  that  of  Lord  Byron.  But  his  lordship  pays  tribute  to  this 
beauty  at  the  expense  of  higher  qualities  when  he  pays  Cadiz 
a  "  sweeter  though  ignoble  praise "  and  tells  how  Aphrodite 
made  her  shrine  within  these  white  walls.  Lord  Byron  was 
more  of  a  poet  than  an  historian  in  these  criticisms.  You  can 
trust  his  lordship  in  his  descriptions  of  scenery,  but  not  in  his- 
torical or  moral  reflections.  And  as  you  float  on  this  ripple  of 
beauty  that  wafts  on  toward  the  Battery  and  the  sea,  you  feel 
that  so  much  beauty  must  have  a  higher  purpose  than  revelry 
and  crime,  and  that  the  sweeping  lines  in  "  Childe  Harold  "  were 
applied  to  Cadiz  because  they  happened  to  fit,  and  might  as 
well  have  been  written  about  Cowes  or  Hamburg.  In  the  even- 
ing every  one  goes  to  the  Battery.  The  air  is  warm  with  the 
sunshine,  with  airs  that  come  from  Africa,  yet  tempered  with 
the  ever-soothing  influence  of  the  sea.  The  gardens  are  in 
bloom — the  orange,  the  pomegranate,  the  banana,  and  the 
palm.  You  stroll  along  the  Battery  wall  and  look  out  on  the 
sea.  The  waves  ripple  on  the  shore  with  the  faintest  murmur. 
A  fleet  of  fishing  boats  are  at  anchor,  and  their  graceful  bend- 
ing masts  recall  the  lateen  masts  of  the  Nile.  A  couple  of 
boats  have  just  come  in  and  are  beached  above  the  receding  tide, 
and  the  fishermen,  up  to  their  knees  in  water,  are  scrubbing 
the  sides  and  the  keel.  The  work  is  pleasant,  and  the  sea  has 
been  good,  I  hope,  in  its  offerings,  for  they  sing  a  graceful  song 
to  lighten  their  labors.  The  tinkling  bells  denote  the  patient, 
heavy-laden  donkeys,  who  pace  their  slow  way  along  the  beach, 
laden  with  fish  or  fruit,  water  or  wine.  The  city  is  on  your 
right,  the  white  walls  rising  on  the  terraced  hills,  glowing  with 
white  as  they  are  seen  against  this  deep  blue  sky.      There  are 


570  SPAIN. 

Moorish  domes  and  Arabian  turrets,  that  show  all  the  meaning 
of  their  graceful  outlines  as  you  see  them  now  massed  into  a 
picture,  warmed  with  the  rich  hues  of  the  descending  sun. 
How  beautiful  is  Cadiz,  seen  as  you  see  her  now,  looking  out 
like  a  sentinel  upon  the  sea  !  And  thus  she  has  stood,  a  senti- 
nel between  contending  civilizations,  for  ages.  I  am  almost 
afraid  to  say  how  many  ages ;  but  the  books  will  tell  you  that 
Hercules  founded  Cadiz  more  than  three  centuries  before  Rome 
was  born,  eleven  centuries  before  our  Saviour  died.  Here 
where  the  oceans  meet,  the  southernmost  point  of  Continental 
Europe,  teeming  Africa  only  a  step  beyond — here  for  ages,  and 
through  so  many  civilizations,  the  city  whose  glowing  towers 
grow  pink  and  purple  in  the  sun's  passing  rays  has  stood  guard. 
You  think  of  the  tides  that  have  rolled  and  receded  over  the 
Mediterranean  world,  of  cities  that  once  ruled  the  world  with 
their  enterprise  and  splendor;  of  envious  Babylon  and  forgot- 
ten Tyre,  and  remember  that  modest  Cadiz,  who  never  sought 
empire,  never  challenged  the  cupidity  of  the  bandit,  has  passed 
through  the  storms  that  destroyed  her  splendid  rivals,  and  seems 
good  for  centuries  more.  Just  over  this  smooth  sea,  where  you 
might  run  in  a  few  hours  with  one  of  these  fishing  boats,  is  a 
sandy  seaside  plain  where  Arabs  grow  corn  and  dates  and  loll 
in  the  noonday  sun.  This  was  Carthage ;  and  how  she  looked 
down  upon  poor  little  Cadiz  in  her  day,  with  her  fleets  proudly 
sweeping  around  these  shores  and  promontories,  with  her  armies 
striding  over  mountain  and  valley,  with  her  captains  resolved 
to  conquer  the  world  !  Yet  of  Carthage  only  the  name  remains, 
only  a  shadow,  and  modest  Cadiz  keeps  her  guard  here,  watch- 
ing the  splendors  of  London  and  New  York  and  Paris,  seeing 
all  the  world  carry  them  tribute,  seeing  the  flags  of  the  English- 
man sweep  past  her  shores  as  proudly  as  the  fleets  of  Hannibal 
and  Caesar  in  other  days.  I  wonder  if  beautiful  Cadiz  has 
patience  in  recalling  this,  and  is  content  with  her  modest  work, 
and  feels  that  she  will  keep  guard  perhaps  when  the  glory  that 
now  environs  her  has  passed  like  that  which  once  came  from 
Carthage  and  Rome,  and  the  scepter  of  a  world's  supremacy  will 
have  passed  to  other  hands. 


CADIZ. 


571 


You  think  of  these  things  as  you  lean  over  this  battery  wall 
and  look  at  the  beautiful  city,  growing  more  beautiful  in  the  pur- 


l'LAZA    DE    IbAbfcLLA    II. — CADIZ. 


pie  and  pearl  of  the 
descending  sun.  A 
freshening  breeze 
comes  over  the  sea, 
and  the  waves  purr 
and  play  as  they 
gambol  on  the  rough,  stony  beach.  A  ship  comes  hurry- 
ing in,  hugging  the  coast,  scudding  on  at  full  sail.  How 
beautiful  she  looks!  Every  sail  set,  her  flag  sending  signals 
to  the  shore,  her  prow  bent  forward  like  a  strong  man  run- 
ning his  race,  anxious  for  the  goal.  In  a  few  minutes  the  even- 
ing gun  will  fire  and  the  port  will  close.  So  she  flies  along, 
firm  in  her  purpose,  eager  diving,  laden  with  the  purposes  and 
achievements  of  another  world,  minister  and  messenger  of  peace. 
I  remember  an   idle  discussion — perhaps  I  read  it  in  some  for- 


57 1 


SPAIN. 


gotten  book,  perhaps  I  heard  it  in  some  foolish  dinner  debate — 
as  to  which  was  the  most  beautiful  object  in  the  world,  a  maiden 
in  the  fullness  of  her  years,  a  racehorse  at  his  highest  speed,  or 
a  ship  in  full  sail.  I  have  forgotten  what  my  own  views  may 
have  been  ;  perhaps  it  was  a  subject  on  which  I  had  not  taken 
definite  sides.  But,  looking  over  this  sea  wall  at  the  ship  that, 
with  every  sail  bent,  is  wooing  the  winds  and  striving  for  the 
haven,  I  can  well  see  that  the  beauty  it  implies  is  of  the  highest 
and  noblest  type.  There  is  the  beauty  of  form,  the  snugly 
set  keel  breasting  the  waves,  the  lines  that  bend  and  curve,  the 
lines  that  tower  into  the  air.  There  is  the  beauty  of  purpose — 
which  really  is  the  soul  of  all  beauty — the  purpose  being  to  win 
the  race,  to  carry  her  treasure,  to  make  a  true  and  good  voyage, 
to  do  something,  to  defy  wind  and  waves  and  relentless  seas, 
and  come  into  this  harbor  and  strew  the  wharf  with  corn,  cotton, 
or  oil.  There  is  the  beauty  of  nature,  for  the  sea  is  before  us, 
and  long  lines  of  hills  crest  the  horizon;  and  just  over  the  crisp 
and  curling  blue  a  light  tint  of  silver  falls,  and  you  look  into  the 
heavens,  and  there,  coming  out  of  the  skies,  you  see  the  outlines 
of  a  full-orbed  moon  that  soon  will  throw  a  new  radiance  over 
these  towers  and  hills  and  waves.  You  watch  yon  ship  as  she 
moves  in,  and  feel  that,  for  this  moment  at  least,  there  is  nothing 
more  beautiful,  and  you  are  content  to  see  that  fortune  favors  her, 
and  that  she  comes  into  her  refuge  before  the  port  is  closed. 

As  we  stand  leaning  over  this  sea  wall  and  follow  every  tint 
of  the  changing  scene,  we  note  the  long  bronze  cannon  t^at  look 
through  the  embrasures,  pointing  to  the  sea.  They  seem  out 
of  place  in  Cadiz.  Surely  she  has  lived  all  these  ages,  triumph- 
ant over  so  many  civilizations,  who  would  still  be  living  if  can- 
non could  assure  life.  They  are  poor,  foolish  cannon,  too — long, 
narrow  bronze  affairs,  that  look  puny  beside  those  mighty  en- 
gines which  now  secure  the  prowess  of  England  and  Germany. 
But  even  Cadiz  has  human  nature,  and  if  other  people  wear 
cannon,  she  must  needs  have  cannon.  I  suppose  the  instinct 
which  prompts  these  expenses  and  performances  is  like  the  in- 
stinct which  prompts  those  we  love,  protect,  and  cherish  to  run 
into  crinoline  in  one  season  and  into  the  reverse  in   another. 


THE  BELLS   OF  CADIZ. 


57; 


Cadiz  wears  her  cannon  like  crinoline.  It  is  the  custom,  and 
her  sons  and  daughters  look  proudly  upon  these  lean,  lank, 
crouching  guns,  and  feel  that  they  bar  out  the  opposing  world, 
when,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  opposing  world,  if  it  came  behind 
the  guns  of  England,  would  fear  those  cannon  no  more  than  if 
they  were  bamboo  tissues. 


SCENE   IN    SPAIN. 


But  we  cannot  quarrel  with  the  vanities  of  the  beautiful  city, 
and  hope  she  deems  her  cannon  becoming.  The  light  starts 
up  from  various  points — a  light  here  and  there,  giving  token  of 
the  coming  night.  The  ringing  of  bells  falls  on  the  ear — of 
many  bells — that  ring  as  though  it  were  a  summons  or  an  ad- 
monition. They  come  from  all  parts  of  the  city,  and  their  jan- 
gling is  tempered  into  a  kind  of  music  by  the  distance  and  the 
clearness   of  the  air.     This    is  the  Angelus.      In   this  Catholic 


574 


SPAIN. 


country  it  is  the  custom  when  the  sun  goes  down  for  the  priest 
to  go  to  his  prayers,  and  for  all  Christian  souls  to  cease  what- 
ever calling  may  employ  them  and  for  a  few  moments  to  join 
him  in  his  prayer,  thanking  the  Virgin  for  having  given  them 
the  blessing  of  another  day,  thanking  the  saints  for  havino- 
watched  over  them,  praying  our  Saviour  to  be  with  them  al- 
ways, and  give  them  at  the  end  the  grace  of  a  happy  death. 
As  the  bells  ring  out  you  know  that  all  Cadiz  turns  by  instinct 
and  for  a  few  moments  joins  the  praying  priest  in  his  supplica- 
tions. I  am  afraid  I  am  not  as  devout  as  many  of  my  friends 
who  belong  to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  and  I 
feel  whenever  I  touch  a  religious  theme  a  sense  of  ereat  un- 
worthiness,  of  coming  into  a  foreign  atmosphere,  and  that,  after 
all,  I  am  a  mere  worldly  being,  animated  with  selfish  ideas, 
concerned  over  politics,  and  revenues,  and  dinners,  and  clothes, 
the  yellow  fever  and  the  Eastern  question,  and  that  you  are 
brought  into  a  holy  presence,  into  relations  with  men  and  wo- 
men who  have  lived  in  the  face  of  God.  This  feeling,  this  con- 
sciousness of  all  that  I  am,  and  of  how  much  more  I  could  be 
were  I  to  walk  in  the  humble,  believing  way,  has  given  me  a 
profound  respect  for  any  form  of  religion,  for  any  doctrine  or 
teaching  that  brings  consolation  to  the  harried  soul  of  man 
that  wins  him,  even  if  for  a  moment,  into  the  presence  of  his 
Creator.  I  can  respect  the  Indian  who  worships  fire,  and  the 
Egyptian  who  deified  the  bull,  or  Mumbo  Jumbo  in  his  morass 
who  adores  the  ebony  fragment  he  calls  a  god.  It  is  all  an  ex- 
pression of  reverence,  and  human  nature  depends  upon  reve- 
rence as  the  sea  upon  the  salt  that  gives  it  savor.  So  far,  then, 
as  religion  teaches  men  to  revere,  to  see  above  them  a  higher 
wisdom,  to  look  for  better  ways,  and  to  chasten  their  lives  by 
the  performance  of  nobler  deeds,  so  far  as  it  teaches  them  re- 
straint, energy,  courage,  resignation — whatever  expresses  its 
offices — is  a  sacred  thing.  From  this  point  of  view  what  a 
beauty  you  find  in  those  Angelus  bells  as  you  lean  over  the  sea 
wall — the  cool  breezes  fanning  your  cheek — and  hear  them  jan- 
gle in  the  evening  air  !  Stately  Spanish  gentlemen  pause,  and 
their  cloaks  fall  from  their  shoulder — for  the  Spanish  gentleman 


CADIZ.  5?5 

always  uncloaks  himself  when  he  greets  you — and  now  he  is 
greeting  supremacy,  and  looks  out  toward  the  sea,  and  follows 
the  distant  priest  in  his  prayer.  My  lady  with  the  glowing 
eyes  pauses,  and  the  head  drops  a  moment,  and  making  the 
sign  of  the  cross,  she  passes  on.  For  a  few  minutes  the  jan- 
gling bells  ring  out  and  all  the  world  is  at  prayer.  He  would 
be  a  poor  Spaniard,  whatever  his  creed  or  ways,  who  could 
allow  those  bells  to  pass  without  answering  their  invocation. 
They  ring  for  him  now  as  they  did  for  his  infancy,  as  they  rang 
for  his  ancestors,  as  they  ring  every  day  of  his  life.  Whatever 
the  world  may  do  in  the  way  of  temptation  or  duty,  ior  one 
moment  the  Church  comes  and  absorbs  his  soul,  and  he  is  one 
with  the  thousands  arounds  him,  and  his  heart  goes  in  reve- 
rence to  its  Maker  ;  and  as  you  hear  these  jangling  bells  you 
feel  how  fond,  and  vast,  and  supreme  is  this  religion,  whose 
command  falls  upon  a  people  from  a  hundred  turret  bells. 


LONDONDERRY. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 


IRELAND. 


§T  was  with  no  little  regret  that  General  Grant  left  the 
bright  and  picturesque  scenes  of  sunny  Spain  and 
journeyed  north  to  Paris.  From  Paris  the  party 
went  direct  to  England,  Mrs.  Grant  intending  to 
spend  a  few  days  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Sartoris,  while  the 
General  made  a  short  trip  into  Ireland. 

General  Grant  left  London  on  the  evening  of  July  2d  by 
the  regular  mail  route,  via  Holyhead  and  Kingstown,  and  ar- 
rived at  Dublin  the  next  morning,  accompanied  by  General 
Noyes,  General  Badeau,  Mr.  Russell  Teney,  and  Mr.  Fitzgerald. 
On  arriving  at  Westland  Row  he  was  received  by  the  Lord  Mayor 
(Sir  J.  Barrington),  and  conveyed  in  his  carriage  to  the  Shel- 
burne  Hotel,  where  a  suite  of  rooms  had  been  prepared  for  the 
General  and  his  companions.     The  American  Consul  in  Dub- 

576 


DUBLIN.  c,, 

lin,  Mr.  Barrow,  called  at  an  early  hour  to  pay  his  respects,  and 
at  eleven  o'clock  the  Lord  Mayor,  accompanied  by  his  chaplain, 
Rev.  Canon  Bogart,  attended  with  his  carriage  to  conduct  the 
visitors  through  the  city  and  through  the  principal  buildings. 
They   drove   first  to   the    Royal    Irish    Academy    in    Dawson 
Street,   and   were   received   by    Rev.   Maxwell    Close,    Captain 
McEwing,  Mr.  McSweeney,  and   Mr.  Cilbbon,  by  whom  Gene- 
ral   Grant   was    conducted  through  the   library   and   museum. 
This  museum  contains  a  very  large  and  rare  collection  of  anti- 
quities, which  were  examined  with  great  interest.      The  Bank  of 
Ireland  in  College  Green  was  next  visited,  and  the  General  was 
greatly  impressed  with  the  system  on  which  the  business  of  the 
bank  is  conducted,  and  he  made  many  inquiries  as  to  the  work- 
ings of  the  institution.      After  leaving  the  bank  the  party  visited 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  where  they  were  met  by  Alderman 
Tarpey,  the   High  Sheriff.      Here  the  General  read  the  latest 
telegrams  and  signed  his  name  in  the  visitor's  book.      He  was 
then  driven  to  the  Stock  Exchange  in  Dame  Street,  and  thence 
to  Trinity  College,  where  the  party  arrived  shortly  after  twelve 
o'clock,  and  were  received  by  the  Faculty  and  shown  through 
the  building.     Again  entering  the  Lord  Mayor's  carriage  they 
were  driven  through  Sackville  Street,  which  is  justly  esteemed 
one  of  the  finest  avenues  in  the  kingdom,   being  very  broad 
and   a  little   more  than  a  third  of  a  mile  in  length,  lined  on 
either  side  by  very  fine  and  costly  buildings.      At  its  northern 
end,  in   Rutland  Square,  stands  the   Nelson   column.      Shortly 
after  one  o'clock  the  party  arrived  at  the  City  Hall.     As  the 
General  aliohted  from  the  carriage  he  was  received  with   de- 
monstrations  of  respect  by  the  spectators,  who  raised  their  hats 
and  cheered.     At  the  entrance  to  the  City  Hall  he  was  met  by 
the  Sheriff,   Mr.   Burke,  and  several   members  of  the  council 
chamber,  where  the  members  in  their  robes  were  waiting  to  re- 
ceive him.      A  number  of  prominent  citizens  were  also  present 
to  witness  the  presentation  of  the  freedom  of  the  city.     The 
resolution  that  such  an  honor  should  be  conferred  upon  him 
having  been  read  by  the  Lord  Mayor  amid  cheers,  the  General 
was  presented  with  the  certificate,  which  was  handsomely  illu- 
37 


578 


IRELAND. 


initiated  and  contained  in  a  very  elaborately  carved  bog-oak 
c:isket.  The  Lord  Mayor  then  delivered  a  very  complimentary 
address,  In  which   he   welcomed   General   Grant  to  the  tureen 


shores  of  Ireland  in  the  name  of  its  citizens.      In  response  the 
General  said  : 


"  My  Lord  Mayor,  Gentlemen  of  the  Town  Council,  Ladies  and 
Gentlemen  :  I  feel  very  proud  to  be  made  a  citizen  of  the  great  city  which 
you  represent,  and  to  be  a  fellow  citizen  with  those  I  see  around  me  to-day. 
Since  my  arrival  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  being 
made  a  citizen  of  quite  a  number  of  towns  and  cities,  but  nothing  has  given  me 


DUNDALK—OMAGH—STRAB.  INE.  c  -n 

5/9 

more  pleasure  than  to  be  made  a  citizen  of  the  principal  city  of  Ireland.  I  am  by 
birth  a  citizen  of  a  country  where  there  are  more  Irishmen,  either  native  born 
or  the  descendants  of  Irishmen,  than  there  are  in  all  Ireland.  I  have  there- 
fore had  the  honor  and  pleasure  of  representing  more  Irishmen  and  their 
descendants  when  in  office  than  the  Queen  of  England  does.  Not  being  pos- 
sessed of  the  eloquence  of  your  Lord  Mayor,  I  shall  say  no  more  than  simply 
thank  you." 

After  an  address  by  Dr.  Isaac  Butt,  the  General  was  es- 
corted by  the  Lord  Mayor  to  the  carriage,  in  which  he  then 
drove  to  the  Viceregal  Lodge,  where  he  was  entertained  at 
luncheon  by  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  the  Lord  Lieutenant 
of  Ireland. 

During  the  afternoon  several  members  of  the  Irish  Rifle 
Team  (who  were  at  Creedmoor )  and  British  army  officers  called 
at  the  hotel  and  paid  their  respects  to  the  General. 

In  the  evening  there  was  a  banquet  at  the  Mayor's.  Among 
those  present  were  General  Sir  John  Michael,  Sir  George  Rib- 
ton,  General  Noyes,  General  Badeau,  and  the  leading  citizens 
of  the  city.  This  proved  to  be  a  very  interesting  and  enter- 
taining evening,  and  the  festivities  were  kept  up  until  a  late 
(or  early)  hour. 

On  Saturday  the  General  and  party  strolled  about  the  city, 
noting  its  many  attractions.  Sunday  was  spent  in  a  very  quiet 
way  at  the  Shelburne  Hotel,  and  was  indeed  a  day  of  perfect 
rest. 

At  eight  o'clock  on  Monday  morning  the  party  left  Dublin, 
Lord-Mayor  Barrington  taking  leave  of  the  General  at  the  rail- 
way station.  The  morning  was  cold,  and,  as  the  train  pro- 
gressed northward,  ice,  snow,  cold  winds,  and  finally  rain  were 
encountered.  The  train  first  stopped  at  the  town  of  Dundalk, 
where,  around  the  depot,  notwithstanding  the  storm,  were  as- 
sembled a  very  large  crowd,  who  were  most  enthusiastic  in  their 
demonstrations  of  welcome.  At  Omagh,  Strabane,  and  other 
stations,  large  crowds  were  assembled,  the  people  cheering  the 
General  and  America,  and  whenever  possible  pressing  forward 
to  shake  him  by  the  hand  through  the  car  window.  At  two 
o'clock  the  train  reached  Londonderry.     A  heavy  rain,  follow -d 


580  IRELAND. 

by  frost,  had  covered  the  ground  with  ice,  rendering  the  view  of 
the  city  and  surroundings  most  charming,  as  seen  through  the 
mists  and  gossamer  falling  snow.  At  the  station  an  immense 
crowd,  apparently  the  whole  town  and  neighborhood,  had  assem- 
bled. The  multitude  was  held  in  check  by  the  police.  The 
General  was  cordially  welcomed  to  Londonderry  by  the  Mayor, 
in  a  complimentary  address,  to  which  he  responded  briefly,  and 
left  the  station  amid  the  heartiest  greetings  of  the  people. 
The  crowd  followed  the  General's  carriage  and  cheered  madly 
as  he  was  driven  to  the  hotel.  The  ships  in  the  harbor  were 
decorated  with  flags  and  streamers — in  fact,  the  whole  town 
was  in  gala  dress  and  out  for  a  holiday.  A  remarkably  cold, 
driving  rain  set  in  at  three  o'clock,  just  as  the  party  drove  in 
state  to  the  ancient  Town  Hall.  The  crowd  was  so  dense  that 
progress  through  it  was  made  with  difficulty.  At  the  entrance 
of  the  building  the  Mayor  and  Council  in  their  robes  of  office 
received  the  Ex-President,  amid  many  expressions  of  enthu- 
siasm from  the  people.  An  address  was  read  extolling  the 
military  and  civil  career  of  the  General. 

General  Grant  signed  the  roll,  thus  making  himself  an 
Ulster  Irishman.  He  then  made  a  brief  address.  He  said 
that  no  incident  of  his  trip  was  more  pleasant  than  accepting 
citizenship  at  the  hands  of  the  representatives  of  this  ancient 
and  honored  city,  with  whose  history  the  people  of  America 
were  so  familiar.  He  regretted  that  his  stay  in  Ireland  would 
be  so  brief.  He  had  originally  intended  embarking  from 
Oueenstown  direct  to  the  United  States,  in  which  case  he 
would  have  remained  a  much  longer  time  on  the  snue  little 
island  ;  but  having  resolved  to  visit  India,  he  was  compelled  to 
make  his  stay  short.  He  could  not,  however,  he  said  in  conclu- 
sion, return  home  without  seeing  Ireland  and  a  people  in  whose 
welfare  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  took  so  deep  an  in- 
terest. 

After  this  ceremony  at  the  Town  Hall  the  party  made  a 
visit  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Livermoore,  the  Consul,  where  a  very 
pleasant  and  social  hour  was  spent.  Leaving  the  consul's,  they 
returned  to  the  hotel  and  rested  till  evening,  when  they  were 


LONDONDERRY. 


581 


entertained  at  a  banquet  tendered  by  the  Mayor.  This  banquet 
proved  to  be  a  very  brilliant  affair,  and  was  attended  by  many 
of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  Province  of  Ulster.  The  din- 
ner was  remarkably  good,  well  served,  and  greatly  enjoyed  by 
the  guests.  The  reception  of  the  General  was  enthusiastic  and 
cordial  in  the  extreme.  The  General,  in  response  to  a  toast, 
made  a  brief  speech,  saying  that  he  should  have  felt  that  his 
tour  in  Europe  was  incomplete  had  he  not  seen  the  ancient  and 
illustrious  city  of  Londonderry,  whose  history  was  so  well  known 
throughout  America.  Indeed,  the  people  of  Derry  and  all  about 
there  had  had  a  remarkable  influence  upon  the  development  of 
American  character. 

The  next  morning  the  party  strolled  about  looking  at  the 
historic  walls  which  were  left  standing  at  the  destruction  of  old 
Derry  by  native  chiefs,  during  the  reign  of  James  I.  The  city 
was  rebuilt  by  the  London  companies,  who  were  granted  the 
site  and  six  thousand  acres  adjoining.  Since  then  it  has  been 
known  as  London-Derry.  As  a  fastness  of  Protestantism  it  was 
again  assailed  in  16S9  by  James  II.,  and  had  nearly  succumbed 
to  famine  when  relieving  ships  broke  through  the  booms  which 
had  been  placed  by  the  besiegers  across  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
and  brought  provisions  to  the  starving  inhabitants.  An  aged 
clergyman  named  Walker,  whose  memory  is  still  honored,  con- 
tributed to  their  desperate  resistance.  "  Five  generations," 
says  Macaulay,  "  have  passed  away,  and  still  the  wall  of  Lon- 
donderry is  to  the  Protestants  of  Ulster  what  the  trophy  of 
Marathon  was  to  the  Athenians."  A  lofty  pillar  rising  from 
a  bastion,  which  bore  many  weeks  of  the  heaviest  fire  of  the 
enemy,  is  seen  far  up  and  down  the  Foyle,  on  the  summit  of 
which  is  the  statue  of  Walker. 

"Roaring  Meg"  and  the  other  curiosities  of  the  town 
were  visited,  and  on  the  next  morning  the  General  left  Lon- 
donderry for  Belfast,  accompanied  by  Sir  Harvey  Bruce,  lieu- 
tenant of  the  county,  Mr.  Taylor,  M.P.,  and  other  local  mag- 
nates. 

A  cold  rain  and  mists  coming  from  the  Northern  Ocean 
obscured  the  wonderful  view  of  the  northern  Irish  coast.      The 


53: 


IRELAND. 


General  studied  the  country  closely,  remarking  on  the  sparse- 
ness  of  population,  and  saying  he  could  see  no  evidence  of  the 
presence  of  seven  millions  of  people  in  Ireland. 

At  every  station  there  were  crowds  assembled,  and  when  the 


cars   stopped  the  peo- 

(^ijf|  pie   rushed  forward  to 

'  shake  hands  with  the 

General.     Some  were 

old  soldiers  who  had 
been  in  the  American  army.  One  remarked  that  General  Grant 
had  captured  him  at  Paducah.  The  people  were  all  kindly, 
cheering  for  Grant  and  America.  At  Coleraine  there  was  an 
immense  crowd.  General  Grant,  accompanied  by  the  member  of 
Parliament,  Mr.  Taylor,  left  the  cars,  entered  the  waiting-room 
at  the  depot,  and  received  an  address.  In  reply,  General  Grant 
repeated  the  hope  and  belief  expressed  in  his  Dublin  speech 
that  the  period  of   depression  was  ended,  and  that  American 


BELFAST.  ,-8? 

prosperity  was  aiding  Irish  prosperity.  At  Ballymoney  there 
was  another  crowd.  As  the  train  neared  Belfast  a  heavy  rain 
began  to  fall. 

The  train  reached  Belfast  station  at  half-past  two  o'clock. 
The  reception  accorded  General  Grant  was  imposing  and  ex- 
traordinary. The  linen  and  other  mills  had  stopped  work,  and 
the  workmen  stood  out  in  the  rain  in  thousands.  Looking 
from  the  train  window  there  was  a  perfect  sea  of  heads.  The 
platform  of  the  station  was  covered  with  scarlet  carpet.  The 
Mayor  and  members  of  the  City  Council  welcomed  the  Gene- 
ral, who  descended  from  the  car  amid  tremendous  cheers. 
Crowds  ran  after  the  carriages  containing  the  city  authorities 
and  their  illustrious  guest,  and  afterward  surrounded  the  hotel 
where  the  General  was  entertained.  All  the  public  buildings 
were  draped  with  English  and  American  colors. 

Luncheon  was  served  at  four  o'clock,  and,  notwithstanding 
the  heavy  snow-storm,  the  crowd  remained  outside,  and  cheered 
at  intervals.  The  feature  of  the  luncheon  was  the  presence  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of  the  diocese,  who  was  given  the 
post  of  honor.  The  Belfast  speakers  made  cordial  allusions 
to  many  prominent  people  in  the  United  States,  and  were  very 
complimentary  to  their  guest.  General  Noyes  in  his  speech 
alluded  to  the  fact  that  General  Grant  had  shown  his  appre- 
ciation of  Belfast  men  by  appointing  A.  T.  Stewart  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  and  offering  George  H.  Stuart,  a  Belfast  boy, 
the  portfolio  of  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

After  the  luncheon  was  over  General  Grant  remained 
quietly  in  his  apartments,  receiving  many  calls,  some  from  old 
soldiers  who  served  under  him  during  the  war. 

On  Wednesday  morning  a  number  of  the  leading  citizens 
of  Belfast  and  several  clergymen,  among  whom  were  Bishop 
Ryan,  the  Catholic  Bishop  of  Buffalo,  and  Mr.  Cronin,  editor 
of  the  Catholic  I  Tnion,  called  upon  the  General,  and  had  a  very 
pleasant  interview.  At  eleven  o'clock  General  Grant,  accom- 
panied by  Major  Brown,  visited  the  warehouses  of  several 
merchants  in  the  linen  trade,  and  also  the  factories  and  ship- 
yards of  the  city.     At  the  immense  ship-yard  where  the  "  White 


5«4 


IREI.AXP. 


Star"  steamers  were  built,  the  workmen,  numbering  two  thou- 
sand, gathered  around  General  Grant's  carriage,  and  cheered 
as  they  ran  alongside.  The  public  buildings  and  many  of  the 
shops  were  decorated. 

At  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  General  left  for  Dub- 
lin. Immense  crowds  had  gathered  at  the  hotel  and  at  the 
railway  station.  The  Mayor,  with  Sir  John  Preston  and  the 
American  Consul,  James  M.  Doonan,  accompanied  the  General 
to  the  depot.  As  the  train  moved  off  the  crowd  gave  tremen- 
dous cheers,  the  Mayor  taking  the  initiative. 

At  Portadown,  Dundalk,  Drogheda,  and  other  stations, 
there  were  immense  crowds,  the  population  apparently  turning 
out  en  masse.  General  Grant  was  loudly  cheered,  and  thou- 
sands surrounded  the  car  with  the  hope  of  being  able  to  shake 
the  General  by  the  hand,  all  wishing  him  a  safe  journey.  One 
little  girl  created  considerable  merriment  by  asking  the  General 
to  give  her  love  to  her  aunt  in  America. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  train  at  Belfast,  the  party  were  met 
by  Lord-Mayor  Barrington  and  a  large  number  of  people,  and 
were  cordially  welcomed.  As  soon  as  all  the  party  had  de- 
scended, the  Lord  Mayor  invited  the  General  into  his  carriage 
and  drove  him  to  Westland  Row,  where  the  Irish  mail  train 
was  ready  to  depart,  having  been  detained  eight  minutes  for 
the  Ex-President. 

There  was  a  most  cordial  farewell  and  a  great  shaking  of 
hands.  The  Mayor  and  his  friends  begged  General  Grant  to 
return  soon  and  make  a  longer  stay.  Soon  Kingstown  was 
reached,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  party  were  in  the  special 
cabin  which  had  been  provided  for  them  on  board  the  mail 
steamer. 

The  party  arrived  at  London  on  Thursday  morning,  and 
the  General  spent  the  day  and  evening  with  the  American 
Minister,  Mr.  Welsh. 

On  Monday  we  are  to  start  for  Paris,  where  we  expect  to 
meet  Mr.  Borie  and  others,  who  are  to  make  up  the  party  for 
the  trip  to  India. 


'^v.^-^'i^v      g 


M  s  HSEILLES. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 


RED    SEA    AXD    INDIA. 


N  the  24th  of  January,  at  noon,  our  party  embarked 
on  the  "  Labourdonnais  "  at  Marseilles.  There  were 
several  American  friends  to  wish  us  a  pleasant  jour- 
ney, and  as  we  turned  from  the  landlocked  bay 
suddenly  into  a  high  rolling  sea,  we  saw  their  handkerchiefs 
waving  us  a  last  farewell.  Our  party,  as  made  up  for  the  In- 
dian trip,  is  composed  of  General  Grant,  Mrs.  Grant,  Colonel 
Frederick  D.  Grant,  Mr.  A.  E.  Borie,  formerly  Secretary  of 
the  Navy ;  Dr.  Keating,  of  Philadelphia,  a  nephew  of  Mr. 
Borie,  and  the  writer.  It  was  remarked  that  a  year  ago  we 
had  visited  Thebes,  those  of  us  who  remained  as  members 
of  the  Grant  party.  Even  in  so  small  a  company  time  has 
made  changes.  The  officers  of  the  "  Vandalia,"  three  of  whom 
were  the  General's  guests  on  the  Nile,  have  gone  home.     Jesse 


586 


RED  SEA   AND   INDIA. 


Grant  is  in  California.  Hartog,  the  courier,  does  not  go  to 
India.  Colonel  Grant  takes  his  brother's  place.  Mr.  Borie 
came  rather  suddenly.  His  health  had  not  been  good,  and  the 
sea  was  recommended  as  a  restorative,  and  the  General  was 
delighted  with  the  idea  that  one  whom  he  held  in  so  high  honor 
would  accompany  him  around  the  world. 

Our  life  on  the  "  Labourdonnais "  may  be  briefly  told. 
The  "  Labourdonnais"  is  an  old-fashioned  ship,  not  in  the  best 
of  order,  and  not  very  comfortable.  The  table  was  fair  and  the 
attendance  middling.  We  were  told  that  it  was  unfortunate 
that  we  had  not  taken  some  other  ship  on  the  line,  which  would 
have  made  all  the  difference  in  the  world.  However,  I  will 
not  complain  of  the  "  Labourdonnais,"  which  carried  us  safely 
through,  and  thereby  earned  our  gratitude.  I  have  noticed  in 
my  seafaring  experiences  that  the  difference  between  a  good 
ship  and  a  bad  one  in  their  degrees  of  comfort  is  not  essential. 
If  you  like  the  sea,  and  have  no  terror  for  its  tribulations,  you 
will  not  be  critical  about  the  ship  that  bears  you.  If  you  do 
not  like  the  sea,  damask  and  sandalwood  and  spices  from  Cey- 
lon, with  M.  Bignon  as  your  cook,  would  not  make  it  welcome. 
Our  first  hours  on  the  Mediterranean  were  on  a  high  sea,  but 
on  the  second  day  the  sea  went  down,  and  we  had  charming 
yachting  weather.  On  Friday,  the  24th  of  January,  we  passed 
between  Corsica  and  Sardinia,  having  a  good  view  of  the  som- 
bre coasts  of  the  former  island.  On  the  25th,  about  noon, 
Ischia  came  in  sight,  and  through  the  hazy  atmosphere  we 
could  trace  the  faintest  outline  of  Vesuvius.  The  sea  was  so 
calm  that  we  were  enabled  to  sail  so  near  the  shores  of  Ischia 
as  to  note  the  minutest  form  of  geological  strata  and  distin- 
guish minor  objects  on  the  shore.  Ischia  is  a  beautiful  island, 
and  we  noted  smiling  villages  and  inviting  bits  of  sunshine  and 
greenery  as  we  sailed  along.  Then,  as  the  afternoon  shadows 
lengthened,  we  passed  the  island,  and  leaving  Capri  to  our 
right,  nestling  under  a  cloudy  canopy  of  azure  and  pearl,  we 
sailed  into  the  Bay  of  Naples.  A  year  had  almost  passed  since 
we  left  Naples.  But  the  glorious  beauty  of  the  bay  was  as 
fresh  as  ever,  and  as  we  noted  spot  after  spot  in  the  landscape 


AGAIN   ON  THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 


5^7 


—  the  king's  palace,  the  place  where  Brutus  found  refuge  after 
Csesar's  death,  the  scene  where  Pliny  witnessed  the  destruction 
of  the  cities  of  Sorrento  and  Pompeii,  the  range  of  shining 
hills,  the  convent  looking  down  from  a  beetling  crag,  which  we 
climbed  one  December  day  ;  the  anchorage  of  the  "  Vandalia," 
and  above  all  the  towering  volcano  from  which  came  smoke 
and  flame — it  was  as  if  we  were  meeting  old  friends.  We  came 
into  the  harbor,  and  old  friends  came  on  board  in  the  person  of 


Mr.  Maynard,  our  Minister  to  Turkey,  and  Mr.  Duncan,  our 
Consul  to  Naples.  The  Doctor  and  I  went  ashore  to  make 
sure  of  a  telegraphic  message  that  it  was  my  duty  to  send;  but 
it  was  so  late  in  the  afternoon  that  none  of  the  party  followed 
our  example,  and  as  the  sun  went  down  we  steamed  out  to  sea. 
The  last  we  saw  of  the  city  was  Vesuvius,  the  smoke  resting 
above  it  in  a  dense  wavy  cloud,  and  the  flames  flashing  like  a 
beacon  in  the  calm  summer  air. 

On  the   morning  of  the   26th,  the   Sabbath,  Mr.  Borie,  who 
has  earned  the  first  prize  for  early  rising,  came  to  my  berth  and 


588 


RED   SEA    AND   INDIA. 


said  that  Stromboli  was  in  sight.  Last  year  when  we  sailed 
through  these  islands  Stromboli  was  drenched  in  showers  and 
mist,  and  when  Lieutenant  Strong  pointed  out  the  volcano 
from  the  quarterdeck  of  the  "  Vandalia,"  all  1  could  see  was  a 
mass  of  rain  and  fog.  But  here  we  were,  sailing  under  the 
shadow  of  this  ancient  and  famous  island.  What  we  saw  was 
a  volcano  throwing  out  ashes  and  smoke  in  a  feeble,  fretful 
manner,  as  though  jealous  of  its  flashing  rival  in  Naples  Bay, 
and  a  cluster  of  houses  at  the  base,  evidently  a  village.  I  can 
understand  a  good  many  puzzling  things  the  older  I  grow — 
why  Brooklyn  will  remain  an  independent  city,  why  New 
Jersey  does  not  become  annexed  to  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York,  why  an  Ohio  man  may  resign  office — but  I  cannot  con- 
ceive any  reason  for  human  beings  living  in  Stromboli.  They 
are  at  the  absolute  mercy  of  the  sea  and  the  furnace  ;  they  are 
far  away  from  neighbors  and  refuge  and  rescue.  It  must  be  to 
gratify  some  poetic  instinct,  for  Stromboli  is  poetic  enough. 
And  now  we  are  coming,  with  every  turn  of  our  screw,  into 
the  land  of  classic  and  religious  fame.  These  islands  through 
which  we  are  sailing  are  the  islands  visited  by  the  wandering 
Ulysses.  This  rock  that  we  study  through  our  glasses  in  the 
gray  morning  light  is  the  rock  of  Scylla,  and  we  sail  over  Cha- 
rybdis.  This  town  that  looks  very  modern,  on  whose  white 
roofs  the  sun  shines  with  a  dazzling  glare,  is  Reggio,  which  in 
holy  days  was  called  Rhegium.  It  was  here  that  Paul  landed 
after  Syracuse  and  Malta  adventures,  carrying  with  him  the 
message  of  Christ,  going  from  this  spot  to  preach  the  Gospel 
to  all  mankind. 

We  pass  Etna  on  the  left,  but  the  mighty  mountain  is 
wrapped  in  mist  and  cloud  and  snow.  We  sail  through  the 
Messina  Straits,  the  sea  scarcely  rippling,  and  we  are  soon 
again  in  the  open  sea,  the  land  fading  from  view.  On  the 
second  morning  we  pass  close  to  Crete  and  see  the  snowy  moun- 
tain ranges  on  that  glorious  and  unhappy  island.  At  noon 
they  fade,  the  line  of  snow  becoming  a  line  of  haze,  and  as  we 
bid  Crete  farewell  we  say  farewell  to  Europe,  for  we  head 
directly  toward  Egypt  and  the  Red  Sea  and  India,  and  who 


FAREWELL    TO   EUROPE. 


589 


knows  what  beyond.  Farewell  to  Europe,  and  farewell  to 
many  a  bright  and  happy  hour  spent  on  its  shores,  of  which  all 
that  now  remains  is  the  memory. 

On  the  evening  of  the  29th  of  January — this  being  the 
evening  of  the  seventh  day  of  our  journey  from  Marseilles — 
we  came  to  an  anchor  outside  of  the  harbor  of  Alexandria. 
There  was  some  disappointment  that  we  did  not  enter  that 
evening,  but  we  were  an  hour  or  so  late,  and  so  we  swung  at 
anchor  and  found  what  consolation  we  could  in  the  enraptur- 
ing glory  of  an  Egyptian  night.  In  the  morning  when  the  sun 
arose  we  picked  our  way  into  the  harbor,  and  when  we  came 
on  deck  we  found  ourselves  at  anchor,  with  Alexandria  before 
us — her  minarets  looking  almost  gay  in  the  fresh  light  of  the 
morning  sun. 

Pleasant  it  was  to  see  Egypt  again,  although  we  only  saw 
it  through  the  windows  of  a  hurrying  train.  Pleasant,  too,  it 
was  to  land  in  quiet,  unostentatious  fashion,  without  pomp  and 
ceremony  and  pachas  in  waiting  and  troops  in  line,  the  blare  of 
trumpets  and  the  thunder  of  guns.  The  escape  from  a  salute 
and  a  reception  was  a  great  comfort  to  the  General,  who  seemed 
to  enjoy  having  no  one's  hands  to  shake,  to  enjoy  a  snug  cor- 
ner in  an  ordinary  railway  car,  talking  with  General  Stone  and 
Mr.  Borie  and  the  consul  general.  The  train  waited  a  half- 
hour  for  us,  and  would  have  been  detained  longer  but  for  the 
energy  and  genius  shown  by  Hassan — our  old  friend  Hassan, 
who  accompanied  us  on  the  Nile.  Hassan  came  down  to  meet 
the  General  in  his  full  consular  uniform,  and  when  he  found 
that  a  train  was  waiting,  and  that  we  were  behind,  he  took  com- 
mand at  once.  There  was  not  an  idle  Arab  on  the  quays  who 
was  not  pressed  into  the  service  by  Hassan,  and  shortly  after 
we  reached  the  station  our  bags  and  bundles  came  after  us  in  a 
kind  of  procession,  Hassan,  in  high  words,  stick  in  hand,  call- 
ing out — let  us  hope — words  of  sympathy  and  encouragement. 
Hassan,  as  the  official  guard  of  the  legation,  wearing  a  sword, 
is  an  authority  in  Egypt,  and  I  am  afraid  he  used  his  authority 
to  the  utmost  in  having  our  traps  and  parcels  carried  from  the 
wharf  to  the  train.      Our  ride  to  Suez  was  without  incident,  and 


rgo  RED  si':a   AND   INDIA. 

Egypt  as  seen  from  the  car  windows  was  the  same  Egypt  about 
which  so  much  has  been  written.  The  fields  were  ereen.  The 
air  was  clear  and  generous.  The  train  people  were  civil. 
When  Arabs  gathered  at  our  doors  to  call  for  baksheesh  in 
the  name  of  the  prophet,  Hassan  made  himself,  not  without 
noise  and  effect,  a  beneficent  influence.  The  General  chatted 
with  Stone  about  school  times  at  West  Point,  about  friends, 
about  the  new  days — and  one  fears  the  evil  days — that  have 
fallen  upon  his  highness  the  Khedive.  Mr.  Borie  made  various 
attempts  to  see  the  Pyramids  from  the  cars,  and  talked  over 
excursions  that  some  of  us  had  made,  and  we  came  near  re- 
maining in  Cairo  for  another  steamer  to  enable  him  to  visit  the 
Pyramids  and  the  Sphinx,  and  the  Serapeum  at  Memphis. 
But  we  are  late  for  India,  and  Mr.  Borie  would  not  consent  to 
the  sacrifice  of  time  on  the  General's  part,  and  so  we  keep  on 
to  Suez. 

The  sun  is  down,  and  the  lingering  shadows  of  an  Egyptian 
sunset  light  up  the  desert  and  the  Red  Sea  with  a  variety  of 
tints,  and  the  sky  is  a  dome  of  glowing  light — so  intense  and 
clear  and  vast  that  it  affects  you  like  music — as  we  come  into 
Suez.  There  are  our  friends  the  dusky  boys  and  Arabs  in 
muslin,  and  a  tall  Arab  with  a  turban,  carrying  a  lantern,  who 
leads  the  way  to  the  hotel.  The  dogs  are  out  in  chorus,  and 
Hassan,  having  conscripted  all  the  Arabs  in  sight  and  made 
them  burden-bearers,  puts  them  in  march  and  gives  us  his  com- 
pany. We  enter  Suez  walking  in  the  middle  of  a  sandy  lane, 
Hassan,  with  a  stick,  in  the  advance,  loudly  making  his  author- 
ity known  to  all.  Mrs.  Grant  and  General  Stone  and  the  rest 
of  us  bring  up  the  rear.  As  the  road  is  through  sand  and  is 
rather  a  long  one,  Mr.  Borie  casts  reflections  upon  a  civilization 
which,  although  boasting  of  the  Sphinx  and  the  Pyramids,  does 
not  have  hotel  omnibuses  and  coaches  like  Philadelphia.  I 
mention  to  my  honored  friend  that  this  was  the  place  where 
Moses  crossed  the  Red  Sea  and  Pharaoh  was  drowned,  and 
that  from  our  hotel  you  could  see  the  well  where  the  Israelites 
halted  while  Miriam  sang  her  song  of  triumph  and  joy.  But 
my  honored  friend  does  not  see  why  that  should  keep  a  people 


SUEZ.  .gl 

from  having  comfortable  coaches,  and  not  make  visitors  tramp 
and  tramp  through  narrow,  sandy  lanes.  I  do  not  attempt  to 
parry  my  friend's  criticism.  I  have  my  own  opinions  of  a  civili- 
zation which,  although  it  built  Karnak,  has  no  omnibuses;  and 
it  is  not  pleasant  to  tramp  and  drag  through  the  sand,  not  ex- 


DECK   OF   *'  VENETIA. 


actly  sure  where  you  are  going.      In  time,  however,  we  came  to 
our  hotel — to  welcome  and  supper. 

The  hotel  of  Suez  was,  I  am  told,  formerly  a  harem  of  one 
of  the  Egyptian  princes.  You  can  sit  on  your  balcony  and 
look  out  on  the  Red  Sea — on  the  narrow  line  of  water  which 
has  chaneed  the  commerce  of  the  world,  and  which  is  the  Suez 


cq2  RED   SKA   AND  INDIA. 

Canal.  Suez  is  a  small,  clean  town — clean  from  an  Oriental 
standard.  We  drove  around  it  next  morning  on  donkeys,  and 
went  through  the  bazaars.  We  drove  into  the  suburbs  and 
saw  a  Bedouin  camp,  and,  having  driven  all  over  the  town  in 
half  an  hour,  and  having  nothing  else  to  do,  we  drove  all  over 
it  two  or  three  times.  The  boat  which  was  to  carry  us  to  India 
had  not  arrived.  She  was  blocked  in  the  canal.  We  might 
have  to  remain  all  night  and  the  next  day.  Everybody  begins 
to  regret  that  we  had  not  gone  to  Cairo  and  come  to  Suez  on 
the  morrow.  But  about  five  in  the  afternoon  the  masts  of  the 
Peninsular  and  Oriental  steamer  "  Venetia"  began  to  loom  up 
above  the  sands.  Everything  was  hurried  on  the  tender.  As 
the  sun  went  down  we  went  on  board  the  steamer,  Mr.  Farman 
and  General  Stone  remaining  until  the  last  moment  to  say  fare- 
well. About  eight  in  the  evening  of  January  31st  the  last  fare- 
well is  spoken,  we  feel  the  throbbing  of  the  vessel  beneath  us, 
and  know  that  at  last  we  are  off  for  India. 

We  are  the  only  Americans  of  the  company  sailing  on  the 
good  ship  "  Venetia,"  and  we  form  a  colony  of  our  own.  We 
have  preempted  a  small  claim  just  behind  the  wheel,  in  the 
stern  of  the  vessel.  There  is  a  grating  about  six  foot  square  a 
foot  above  the  deck.  Here  you  can  lounge  and  look  out  at  the 
tumbling  waves  that  come  leaping  after,  or  look  into  the  deep 
ultramarine  and  learn  what  the  waves  have  to  say.  Here,  if 
you  come  at  any  hour  of  the  day,  and  at  a  good  many  hours  of 
the  night,  you  will  find  the  members  of  our  expedition.  Mrs. 
Grant  sits  back  in  a  sea  chair,  wearing  a  wide-brimmed  Indian 
hat,  swathed  in  a  blue  silk  veil.  There  is  the  sun  to  fight,  and 
our  ladies  make  themselves  veiled  prophetesses,  and  shrink  from 
his  presence.  The  General  has  fallen  into  Indian  ways  enough 
to  wear  a  helmet,  which  shields  the  face.  The  helmet  is  girded 
with  a  white  silk  scarf,  which  falls  over  the  neck.  We  all  have 
helmets  which  we  bought  in  Suez,  but  only  wear  them  as  fancy 
seizes  us.  Mr.  Borie  has  one  which  cost  him  eight  shillings, 
an  imposing  affair,  but  no  persuasion  has  as  yet  induced  him  to 
put  it  on.  Dr.  Keating  wears  his  so  constantly  that  an  impres- 
sion is  abroad  that  he  sleeps  in  it.     This,  I   fear,  arises  from 


OX  HOARD    THE    VENETIA. 


59: 


envy  of  the  Doctor,  who  takes  care  of  himself,  and  comes  out  <  T 
his  cabin  every  morning  neat  enough  to  stroll  down  Chestnut 
Street,  and  not,  like  the  rest  of  us,  abandoned  to  flannel  shirts 
and  old  clothes  and  frayed  cuffs  and  cracked,  shiny  shoes.  The 
ship  goes  on  in  a  lazy,  lounging  motion.  Mrs.  Grant  looks  out 
of  her  cloud  of  blue  silk.  She  has  brought  up  the  interesting, 
never-failing  question  of  mails.  That  is  the  theme  which  never 
dies,  for   you   see   there  are   boys  at   home,   and   if   only    boys 


knew  the  interest  felt  in  their  writings  what  an  addition  it 
would  be  to  our  postal  revenues.  Colonel  Grant,  curled  up  in 
a  corner,  is  deep  in  Vanity  Fair.  The  Colonel  is  assuming  a 
fine  bronzed  mahogany  tint,  and  it  is  suggested  that  he  will 
soon  be  as  brown  as  Sitting  Bull.  You  see  it  is  the  all-con- 
quering sun  who  is  having  his  will  upon  us.  I  am  afraid  the 
General's  complexion  failed  him  years  ago,  in  the  war  days, 
and  I  do  not  see  that  the  sun  can  touch  him  further.  But  the 
rest  of  us  begin  to  look  like  meerschaum  in  various  degrees  of 
hue.     What  shall  we  be  when  we  reach  India? 


594 


RED  SEA   AND  INDIA. 


The  beardless  members  of  the  expedition  have  resolved  not 
to  trouble  their  beards  until  we  reach  home.  He  who  touches 
razor  is  to  pay  the  others  a  penalty.  This  is  one  of  the  ways 
in  which  people  at  sea  kill  time.  The  Doctor  looks  as  if  he  re- 
grets the  compact,  for  the  truth  is  that  the  beardless  ones  begin 
to  look  like  hair  brushes  in  various  processes  of  manufacture, 
and  there  are  several  young  ladies  on  board,  and  a  handsome 
young  man  like  the  Doctor  would  rather  not  have  to  depend 
upon  his  eyes  alone  in  making  his  way  into  the  deck  soci- 
ety. We  try  to  read.  I  came  on  board  laden  with  informa- 
tion— cyclopedias,  almanacs,  guide  books,  old  numbers  of  New 
York  newspapers.  I  had  laid  out  for  myself  a  plan  of  study 
between  Suez  and  Aden,  between  Aden  and  Bombay.  I  meant, 
for  instance,  to  tell  my  readers  all  about  India,  about  tigers  and 
maharajahs  and  rupees  and  pagodas.  Somehow  one  always 
makes  resolutions  of  this  serious  kind  when  beginning  long 
journeys.  I  am  ashamed  to  say  all  my  useful  books  are  down 
in  my  cabin.  I  looked  at  them  this  morning-  as  I  was  dressing 
in  a  ruminatory  mood,  and  thought  of  readers  at  home  hunger- 
ing about  India,  and  resolved  to  begin  and  cram  myself  with 
knowledge.  But  I  looked  out  the  open  window,  and  there  was 
the  sea,  flushed  with  feathery  tufts  of  waves  ;  a  fresh,  cool 
breeze  coming  from  the  shores  of  Arabia — so  cool,  so  green,  so 
winsome  that  I  could  not  deny  its  solicitings,  and  when  break- 
fast was  over  I  came  to  our  American  encampment,  and  coddled 
myself  around  this  wooden  grating,  not  to  write  useful  facts 
about  India,  but  to  kill  time. 

Mr.  Borie  has  fished  up  a  recent  copy  of  the  Philadelphia 
Ledger,  and  is  reading  the  financial  column,  and  wishes,  among 
other  things,  that  he  had  some  Darlington  butter.  Somehow, 
when  talk  runs  low  on  the  question  of  mails  it  is  apt  to  drift 
into  butter.  The  ship  butter  is  not  very  good,  and  it  is  served 
in  jars,  out  of  which  you  dig  it  with  a  knife.  Can  you  imagine 
anything  more  distressing  to  a  well-ordered,  conservative  Phila- 
delphia mind  than  to  have  his  butter  put  before  him  in  a  jar, 
and  scooped  out  with  a  knife  or  the  useless  end  of  a  spoon  ? 
He  knows  how  much  better  it  is  at  home — the  butter  cold  and 


OX  BOARD    THE    VENETIA. 


595 


hard  and  sweet,  molded  into  dainty  shapes,  decorated  with 
green  leaves,  and  as  you  eat  it  suggesting  meadows  and  sun- 
shine and  new-mown  hay.  If  you  have  lived  in  Philadelphia, 
and  know  how  large  a  part  butter  performs  in  the  civilization 
of  that  city  of  comforts  and  homes,  you  will  appreciate  the  exact 
feelings  of  one  of  her  honored  citizens,  as,  sitting-  here  and 
looking  out  upon  the  blue  sea  and  the  Sinai  desert  beyond,  he 
thinks  of  Chester  County  and  of  what  Mr.  Darlington  has  done 
to  smooth  the  path  of  existence. 


The  Colonel  is  deep  in  Vanity  Fair.  I  envy  him  his  first 
knowledge  of  that  profound  and  noble  book.  He  is  adding  to 
his  list  of  feminine  acquaintances  Rebecca,  wife  of  Rawdon 
Crawley,  better  known  as  Becky  Sharp.  Some  one  asks  him 
how  he  gets  on  with  Becky.  "  Famously,"  he  answers.  "  I 
know  her  like  a  book.  She  used  to  live  in  Washington,"  and 
so  on,  giving  us  a  bit  of  history.  Somehow,  everybody  who 
reads  Vanity  Fair  knows  Becky  Sharp.  I  knew  her  myself 
years  and  years  ago,  and  do  remember  how  I  was  on  the  point 


cgQ  RED   SEA   AND   INDIA. 

of  falling  madly  in  love  with  her,  and  how  her  face  comes  back 
to  mc  with  her  wonderful  green  eyes — olive  green — which  she 
used  to  call  olivaster,  and  how  she  kept  her  friendships  as  she 
did  her  gloves  in  a  box  with  perfumes,  putting  the  old  ones  at 
the  bottom  and  the  new  ones  at  the  top.  But  she  married  and 
went  West,  and  has  had  chills  and  fever  and  children,  and  the  last 
time  I  met  her  was  in  the  capital  with  a  paper  which  she  wanted 
senators  to  sign — a  paper  asking  for  an  office.  And  although 
time  and  chills  and  fever  and  maternity  had  deepened  the  lines, 
her  eyes  were  as  green  as  ever — olive  green — and  she  was 
cheerful  and  friendly,  and  called  one  by  a  wrong  name,  and  re- 
called our  pleasant  acquaintances  in  a  city  where  I  had  never 
resided,  and,  no  doubt,  would  have  bewitched  me  again  if  a 
famous  senator  had  not  passed,  and  she  hopped  off  from  the 
green  to  the  riper  fruit,  and  left  me  to  go  my  way.  Yes, 
I  knew  Becky  —  knew  her  well,  and  I  see  her  green  eyes 
now  as  I  sit  dawdling  on  this  Indian  vessel,  looking  into  the 
waves. 

The  shining  line  of  sand  and  the  mountain  range  upon 
which  Mr.  Borie  was  gazing  when  his  thoughts  wandered  back 
to  Darlington  butter  and  old  Philadelphia,  is  called  Sinai — so 
some  one  tells  us — and  how  suddenly  the  whole  scene  assumes 
a  new  color  and  lights  up  with  a  sacred  beauty,  as  all  our  child- 
hood memories  of  the  mount  where  God  appeared  to  Moses 
flashes  over  it.  The  captain  tells  us,  in  a  quiet,  business-like, 
matter-of-course  tone,  that  the  mountain  to  the  right,  the 
lesser  of  the  peaks,  is  Sinai.  All  glasses  are  directed  toward  the 
memorable  summit.  It  was  here  that  the  Lord  rave  the  Ten 
Commandments.  "  And  all  the  people  saw  the  thunderings, 
and  the  lightnings,  and  the  noise  of  the  trumpet,  and  the 
mountain  smoking  ;  and  when  the  people  saw  it,  they  removed, 
and  stood  afar  off."  What  we  see  is  an  irregular,  jagged  peak, 
the  outlines  dimmed  by  the  long  distance  from  the  sea-shore. 
The  wilderness  upon  which  the  children  of  Israel  encamped, 
and  through  which  they  wandered,  seems,  as  far  as  we  can  see  it 
through  our  glasses,  to  be  a  wide,  barren,  sandy  plain — a  frag- 
ment of  the  desert  which  has  been  appearing  and  reappearing 


THE  SHIP'S   COMPANY.  cgj 

ever  since  we  left  Alexandria.  I  am  told  that  near  Sinai  there 
is  vegetation,  that  monasteries  flourish  at  the  base  of  the  mount, 
and  that  a  pilgrimage  is  not  difficult  and  is  interesting.  This 
leads  to  a  Bible  talk,  which  helps  to  kill  time,  and  one  of  the 
encampment,  after  a  patient  search,  finds  out  the  chapters  in 
Exodus  which  tell  the  majestic  story,  and  reads  it  aloud,  all  but 
the  commandments,  which  we  are  supposed  to  know.  It  is 
noticeable  in  these  journeyings,  and  in  comparing  passages  of 
the  Bible  with  what  we  see,  that  the  geography  is  perfect — as 
accurate  as  though  it  described  the  scenes  of  every-day  life. 
You  observe  this  throughout  the  Holy  Land;  and  no  mat- 
ter how  much  you  may  question  the  action  of  the  sacred 
story — and  God  forbid  that  I  should  intrude  upon  the  awful 
mystery,  for  I  came  into  these  lands  believing,  humbly  believ- 
ing, what  has  been  consecrated  by  generations  of  devout  and 
pious  men — no  matter  what  your  own  commentaries  may  be 
upon  Sacred  Writ,  you  see  that  those  who  wrote  the  holy 
pages  saw  the  very  scenes  upon  which  we  are  gazing — the 
shining  sands,  the  primrose  and  golden  skies,  the  brown,  empur- 
pled hills,  the  rolling,  deep,  dark  blue  sea. 

While  we  keep  our  encampment  on  the  grating  in  the  stern, 
and  have  our  life  circling  from  hour  to  hour  in  easy,  idle  fashion, 
there  is  another  world  about  us  with  which  we  slowly  establish 
relations.  The  companions  of  our  voyage  are  mainly  English, 
bound  for  India.  The  other  morning  there  was  a  muster,  and 
the  ship's  company  fell  into  line,  Hindoos,  Mussulmans,  Chi- 
nese, Egyptians,  Nubians — it  seemed  as  if  all  the  nations  of 
the  Oriental  world  had  been  put  under  contribution  in  order 
that  the  good  ship  "  Yenetia  "  should  make  her  way  from  Suez 
to  Bombay.  The  "  Yenetia  "  is  commanded  by  Englishmen 
and  served  by  Orientals.  To  those  unaccustomed  to  the  Ori- 
ental it  is  strange  at  first  to  see  those  quaint  forms  floating 
around  you.  They  have  as  a  general  thing  clear,  well-cut  faces, 
thin,  lithe  limbs,  and  move  about  like  cats.  We  have  no  type 
in  America  that  resembles  the  Hindoo.  They  have  not  the 
strength  or  vigor  of  our  Indians,  but  have  kinder  faces  and 
a   higher  intelligence.      They  have   more   character  than  the 


59« 


RED   SEA   AND   IX PI  A. 


African  types,  and  I  can  well  understand  the  development  of 
the  race  to  a  high  point  of  civilization.  They  seem  to  be  good 
servants,  doing  their  work  with  celerity  and  silence.  A  group 
will  move  around  the  decks,  sweeping,  swabbing,  hauling  ropes, 
or  what  not,  all  silent  and  all  busy.  A  party  of  laborers  in 
our  country  would  chatter  and  chirp  and  sing,  and  find  some 
means  of  throwing  life  and  harmony  into  their  labors.  The 
Indians  are  like  so  many  machines.  At  night  they  cuddle  up 
in  all  corners,  and  as  you    pass  between   decks   you   step  over 


HEAVING    THE    LOG. 


blanketed  forms.  They  have  the  simplest  raiment — blue  cot- 
ton gowns  for  work,  white  cotton  gowns  for  ceremony.  I  saw 
them  in  their  gala  dress  on  inspection,  and  the  trim,  well-cut 
forms,  in  flowing  white  gowns,  with  brown  bare  feet,  scarlet 
and  yellow  turbans,  scarlet  and  blue  handkerchiefs  around  the 
waist,  were  picturesque  and  odd,  and,  on  first  glimpses,  of  Indian 
color.  The  good  ship  "  Venetia,"  on  which  we  are  sailing,  is 
one  of  the  Peninsular  and  Oriental  line — a  famous  line — which 
connects  England  with  her  Asiatic  possessions.  The  "  Venetia" 
is  a  clean,  bright  ship,  built  to   fight   the   sun.     The  builders 


MAKING   ACQUAINTANCE.  ^qq 

were  thinking  of  the  sea  and  the  air.  Our  Atlantic  vessels  are 
meant  for  stormy  seas,  are  strong  and  clumsy  compared  with 
these  light,  graceful  vessels  of  the  tropics.  These  staterooms 
are  pierced  with  crannies,  as  many  as  will  let  in  the  air  and 
keep  out  the  sea.  The  decorations  are  in  wood,  varnished  and 
oiled  woods.  The  cabin  is  high,  and  over  the  dining  table 
swing  long  fans  or  punkas,  which  are  kept  in  motion  when  we 
are  at  table.  The  table  is  good,  with  a  predominance  of  curry 
and  poultry.  At  nine  we  have  breakfast,  at  one  o'clock 
luncheon.  We  dine  at  six,  and  if  we  care  to  have  tea  it  will 
be  given  at  eight.  The  food  is  good  and  the  wines  fair.  But 
what  impresses  you  about  the  ship  is  the  discipline.  I  have 
seen  nothing  so  perfect  since  I  left  our  man-of-war  "  Yandalia," 
and  you  feel  so  admirable  in  discipline,  as  if  your  ship  was  in 
the  hands  of  a  strong,  brave  man,  and  that  you  could  fight  and 
conquer  any  wind  or  any  sea. 

The  process  of  becoming  acquainted  among  the  deck  peo- 
ple goes  on  slowly.  Englishmen  are  shy,  and  we  Americans 
who  hold  camp  in  the  corner  find  society  among  ourselves  and 
are  not  tempted  to  stray.  There  are  several  children  on  board, 
and  Mrs.  Grant  has  captured  them  by  various  attentions  in  the 
peppermint  and  chocolate  line.  But  beyond  this  we  have  only 
a  skirmishing  acquaintance  with  our  fellow  travelers.  We  be- 
gin to  know  them  in  a  kind  of  Indian  fashion  ;  not  by  their 
Christian  names,  but  by  attributes.  One  of  them  is  a  peer, 
and  it  was  a  day  or  two  before  we  pinned  him  down,  and  for 
this  day  or  two  we  did  not  know  but  that  any  man  whom  we 
passed  on  deck  might  be  a  noble  lord.  The  Doctor  discovered 
him,  and  we  now  know  his  lordship  by  his  gray  hat.  An- 
other is  an  officer  with  a  lame  leg.  This  officer  tried  to  kill  a 
tiger,  but  the  tiger  in  its  agony  clawed  him  so  that  he  limps 
until  this  day.  This  gentleman  becomes  an  object  of  interest 
to  us,  especially  to  Colonel  Grant.  The  Colonel  has  laid  out 
a  campaign  of  tiger  shooting,  and  has  compiled  a  list  of  friends, 
including  General  Sheridan  and  most  of  the  commissioned  of- 
ficers in  the  Military  Division  of  the  Missouri,  to  whom  on  his 
return   he   purposes  presenting  his  tiger  skins.     So  the  specta- 


600  RED   s/;-<   AND    INDIA. 

cle  of  an  officer  who  really  had  killed  a  tiger  interests  the  Colo- 
nel. But  for  the  rest  of  us  the  effect  is  depressing.  The  Doc- 
tor prefers  to  attack  his  tiger  with  strychnine.  The  General 
says  he  has  no  interest  in  sport  of  any  kind  and  never  had, 
while  Mr.  Borie  remarks  that  he  does  not  know  that  he  has 
any  grudge  against  tigers.  My  own  resolution  is  unalterable. 
I  shall  earn  my  laurels  as  a  tiger  slayer  in  Fairmount  Park, 
where  the  tiger  and  I  will  be  on  more  equal  terms  than  in  the 
jungle.  We  have  a  clergyman  who  reads  the  service  with  em- 
phasis and  feeling,  and  who  floats  about  in  airy  summer  cos- 
tume. We  have  a  famous  traveler  who  has  been  all  over 
America,  all  over  the  world,  and  with  whom  we  have  been 
comparing  notes.  We  have  the  Englishman  who  knows  a 
great  deal  about  America,  and  is  curious  to  know  more.  Im- 
parting information  under  these  circumstances  is  really  a  pro- 
cess of  elementary  instruction.  I  am  interested  in  the  foreign 
friend  who  knows  our  country  well.  His  facts  become  so  en- 
tangled that  you  find  yourself  constantly  informing  him  that 
Pennsylvania  did  not  secede,  that  Stonewall  Jackson  is  dead, 
that  General  Lee  was  in  the  Southern,  not  the  Northern  army, 
that  Washington  is  not  the  capital  of  New  York,  that  there  are 
no  Indians  in  Massachusetts,  and  that  American  statesmen  do 
not  find  a  short  term  of  imprisonment  essential  to  success  in 
public  life.  To-morrow  we  hope  to  see  Aden.  Aden  is  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Red  Sea.  Every  hour  we  move  into  a  warmer 
atmosphere,  and  killing  time  becomes  really  a  contest  with  the 
sun.  The  General  looks  at  the  tropical  prospect  with  compo- 
sure, and  tells  of  his  own  experience  in  the  regions  of  the  equa- 
tor, when  with  a  company  of  infantry  he  found  himself  in  Pana- 
ma in  July,  and  the  cholera  came  among  his  people.  The  rest 
of  us  are  planning  what  to  do  when  the  weather  becomes  really 
warm.  My  own  private  opinion  is  that  the  Hindoos  have 
solved  the  problem,  and  that  if  we  only  could  array  ourselves 
in  loose  cotton  robes  and  go  about  in  bare  feet  it  would  be 
comfort.  Our  English  friends  blossom  out  in  various  tints  of 
gray  and  white,  and  the  deck  assumes  the  aspect  of  a  June 
yachting  party  on  Long  Island  Sound.      But  the  Englishman  is 


SLEEPING    UNDER    THE  STARS. 


60 1 


a  comfort-seeking  animal.  Our  cabins  are  as  good  as  can  be, 
and  all  over  the  ship  there  are  contrivances  for  bringing  air, 
fans  for  moving  the  air,  space  and  cleanliness.  In  the  mat- 
ter of  cleanliness  nothing  could  be  better  than  the  "  Venetia." 
Twenty-three  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four  seem  devoted  to 
scrubbing,  and  from  bow  to  stern  she  is  as  bright  and  clean  as 
a  model  housewife's  dairy.  I  observed  that  one  of  the  pas- 
sengers who  had  been  in  India  and  knew  the  ways  of   the  Red 


Sea,  had  his  bed  carried  up  on  deck  and  slept  under  the  stars. 
The  example  seemed  a  good  one,  and  the  second  night  of  our 
voyage  my  bed  was  made  on  the  skylight.  I  preferred  camp- 
ing on  our  grating,  but  one  of  the  officers  told  me  that  if  I 
slept  on  the  grating  the  moon  would  shine  in  my  face  with 
appalling  results;  that  in  India  to  sleep  with  the  moon  shining 
in  one's  face  was  a  fearful  thing.  This  question  of  what  the 
moon  would  do  became  an  interesting  theme.  The  lady  of 
the  American  encampment  quite  confirmed  the  evil  reports 
about  the  moon.     The  General  recalled  the  many,  many  nights 


6o2  RED  SEA  AND  INDIA. 

when,  with  no  pillow  but  the  base  of  a  tree  and  no  covering 
but  the  universe,  he  slept  under  a  full  and  beaming  moon. 
However,  I  move  myself  under  the  awning  and  sleep.  It 
would  be  much  better  than  the  cabin  but  for  the  scrubbing,  the 
heaving  the  lead,  and  the  constant  movement  around  you.  If 
I  open  my  eyes  I  am  sure  to  find  a  purring,  creeping  Indian 
with  a  broom  or  a  brush  cleaning--  something:.  But  in  time  vou 
become  used  to  this,  and  you  sleep  with  soft  breezes  from 
Arabia  blowing  upon  you;  and  if  you  awake  from  your  dreams, 
around  you  is  the  sea  and  above  you  the  heavens  in  all  their 
glory. 

Before  the  sun  rises  you  are  awakened.  The  decks  must 
be  cleaned.  Your  servant  comes  and  tells  you  that  your  bath 
is  ready.  The  bathing  arrangements  are  perfect.  After  the 
bath  you  come  on  the  deck  and  find  the  early  birds  of  the  voy- 
age hopping  around  in  bare  feet  and  the  faintest  raiment.  For 
this  hour  the  ship  is  given  over  to  passengers  walking  around 
in  bare  feet,  trying  to  kill  time.  Your  servant  comes  again 
with  a  pint  of  coffee,  and  you  sip  it  in  a  kind  of  sheeted  ghostly 
company — friends  coming  from  the  bath  and  going  to  the  bath. 
At  nine  breakfast  and  woman  come  on  the  scene,  and  our 
friends  reappear  in  cool  white  linen  garments  to  get  through 
the  day. 

There  were  lazy  head  winds  in  the  Red  Sea  which  kept  the 
"Venetia"  lagging  on  her  way.  We  should  have  reached 
Aden  on  the  5th  of  February,  and  many  plans  were  arranged 
for  excursions.  But  when  the  sun  went  down  the  report  was 
that  we  should  reach  Aden  and  be  on  our  way  into  the  Indian 
Ocean  almost  before  it  rose  again. 

Aden  is  a  rock,  thrown  up  in  volcanic  times,  in  area  five 
square  miles,  with  a  population  of  twenty-two  thousand.  There 
is  a  garrison,  and  the  forts  are  manned  with  heavy  guns.  The 
government  is  martial  law,  tempered  with  bribery.  The  British 
pay  the  native  chiefs  annual  tribute  money  to  behave  them- 
selves. Aden  is  a  sort  of  gateway  to  the  Red  Sea  and  the  In- 
dian Ocean,  and  the  regulations  of  the  British  Government  in 
reference  to  commerce  are  stringent  and  would  scarcely  be  tole- 


ADE.X. 


603 


rated  on  the  coasts  of  a  stronger  power  than  Arabia.  Every 
vessel  carrying  more  than  a  certain  number  of  passengers  must 
stop  at  Aden.  The  nominal  reason  is  to  obtain  a  clean  bill  of 
health.  The  real  reason  is  that  it  enables  the  Government  to 
keep  a  close  scrutiny  upon  all  that  is  doing  in  the  Indian  waters. 
It  also  adds  to  the  revenues  of  Aden,  for  every  vessel  that  stops 


sends  money  on  shore,  and 
thus  the  fort,  while  securing 
a  most  important  position, 
while  commanding  the  Red 
Sea  and  making  it  almost  a 
British  lake,  supports  itself. 
I  ha  v  e  observed  in  study- 
ing the  growth  of  the  British  Empire  that  the  self-support- 
ing principle  is  always  encouraged.  The  British  give  good 
government  and  make  the  governed  ones  pay  the  bills,  with  a 
little  over  for  home  revenues  when  possible.  About  three  in 
the  morning  of  February  6th  the  engines  stopped,  and  we  knew 
by  the  unearthly  noises  attending  the  taking  in  of  coal  that  we 


6c>4  RED  SEA  AND  INDIA. 

were  at  Aden.  The  iron  pipe  for  conveying  the  coal  ran 
through  the  cabin  of  Colonel  Grant  and  myself,  and  the  noise 
made  sleep  impossible.  I  went  on  deck  and  found  Mr.  Borie 
ready  to  go  on  shore  as  soon  as  the  sun  rose.  None  of  the 
others  had  appeared,  and  but  for  the  noise  we  might  as  well 
have  remained  in  our  berths;  for  there  was  a  rolling,  splashing, 
uncomfortable  sea,  and  all  we  could  see  of  the  shore  were  the 
moving  lights  of  sentinel  posts  and  the  shadow  of  the  hill. 
Those  of  us  who  had  improved  our  time  on  the  journey,  and 
had  written  letters,  sent  them  on  shore,  and  not  without  a  feel- 
ing of  sentiment  at  seeing  them  go,  for  it  seemed  a  farewell  to 
our  own  world,  that  we  were  leaving  Europe  and  America  and 
passing  into  the  opening  door  of  Indian  civilization.  As  the 
morning  came  over  the  sea  and  the  darkness  turned  into  gray 
the  passengers  came  on  deck,  the  General  appearing  about  sun- 
rise. The  proposal  to  go  ashore  was  vetoed  on  account  of  the 
sea,  the  early  hour,  and  the  fact  that  we  were  to  sail  at  eight. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  island  were  hospitable  and  came  out  to 
see  us,  paddling  little  cigar-shaped,  feather-like  canoes,  which 
danced  about  on  the  waves.  There  were  several  races  among 
them,  and  the  quaint  blending  of  character  and  costume  in- 
terested us,  especially  as  it  was  our  first  glimpse  of  the  strange 
contrasts  and  developments  of  the  Indian  world. 

At  Aden  we  touched  on  our  world  long  enough  to  hear  of 
the  resignation  of  Marshal  MacMahon  and  the  change  in  the 
French  Republic.  It  was  just  a  touch  of  news,  but  it  gave  us 
a  theme  for  talk,  and  when  you  have  a  week  of  sea  life  before 
you  any  theme  is  a  welcome  one.  On  the  morning  of  Febru- 
ary 6th,  about  eight,  the  last  Somali  swimmer  was  tossed  over 
the  side  of  the  vessel  into  the  water  ;  the  last  peddler  in  fea- 
thers was  hustled  down  the  gangway  ;  the  Parsees  took  a  sad 
leave  of  their  friend,  who  looked  a  dismal  farewell,  the  engines 
moved,  and  we  turned  our  course  toward  India.  It  was  an 
hour  or  two  before  we  lost  sight  of  Aden,  and  all  the  afternoon 
there  were  bits  of  the  Arabian  coast  coming  and  going  on  the 
horizon.  To  our  north  was  Arabia,  and  our  course  was  north- 
east.     If  you  look  at  the  map  you  will  see  that  the  journey  from 


BOMBAY. 


605 


Suez  to  Bombay  is  like  going  clown  one  side  of  a  triangle  and 
up  the  other  side.  Aden  is  about  the  twelfth  of  a  parallel  north, 
and  Bombay  about  the  eighteenth,  consequently  in  passing 
Aden  we  touch  the  southernmost  station  of  our  Indian  trip. 
We  had  been  told  to  expect  something  severe  in  the  way  of 
weather  at  Aden  ;  that  we  would  bake,  or  burn,  or  broil  in  the 
Indian  Ocean  ;  that  it  would  be  so  warm  that  the  vessel  would 
have  to  reverse  her  engines  and  go  backward  to  make  a  current 
of  air.  All  of  these  prophecies  failed.  Our  whole  journey  from 
Aden  to  Bombay  was  over  a  calm  sea,  the  ship  as  a  general 
thing  scarcely  rolling.  We  spent  most  of  our  time  on  deck  in 
conversation  with  our  English  friends,  with  whom  we  became 
closely  acquainted,  and  among  whom  we  found  high  intelli- 
gence and  courtesy.  It  was  a  good  opportunity  of  studying  the 
character  of  the  men  whom  England  sends  out  to  rule  India. 
They  seem  to  have  something  of  the  American.  There  was 
less  of  the  reserve  of  the  insular  quality  which  marks  the  Eng- 
lishman generally — more  of  our  American  shrewdness  and 
energy  and  knowledge  of  the  world. 

At  noon  on  Friday,  12th,  our  position  was  latitude  180  05' 
north,  longitude  690  22'  east.  We  were  scudding  along  at 
eleven  knots  an  hour,  and  in  the  morning  would  see  Bombay. 
The  sea  became  a  dead  calm,  and  the  morning  brought  with  it  a 
purple  haze,  which  flushed  the  horizon,  and  it  was  after  a  time 
and  by  shading  the  eyes  from  the  sun  that  we  could  manage  to 
trace  the  line  of  the  hills  and  knew  that  this  was  the  coast  of 
India.  Our  departure  from  Europe  had  been  so  sudden  that 
we  had  no  idea  that  even  our  consul  at  Bombay  knew  of  our 
coming.  All  arrangements  were  made  to  go  to  a  hotel  and  from 
thence  make  our  journey;  but  the  "Venetia"  had  scarcely 
entered  the  harbor  before  we  saw  evidences  that  the  General 
was  expected.  Ships  in  the  harbor  were  dressed  with  flags,  and 
at  the  wharf  was  a  large  crowd — soldiers,  natives,  Europeans. 
As  we  passed  the  English  flagship  a  boat  came  alongside  with 
an  officer  representing  Admiral  Corbett,  welcoming  the  Gene- 
ral to  India.  In  a  few  minutes  came  another  boat  bearing 
Captain  Frith,  the  military  aide  to  Sir  Richard  Temple,  Gover- 


6o6 


RED   SEA   AND  IXD1A. 


nor  of  the  Presidency  of  Bombay.  Captain  Frith  bore  a  let- 
ter from  the  Governor  welcoming  the  General  to  Bombay,  and 
offering  him  the  use  of  the  Government  House  at  Malabar 
Point.  Captain  Frith  expressed  the  regret  of  Sir  Richard  that 
he  could  not  be  in  Bombay  to  meet  General  Grant,  but  duties 
connected  with  the  Afghan  war  kept  him  in  Sinde.  The  Con- 
sul, Mr.  Farnham,  also  came  with  a  delegation  of  American 
residents,  and  welcomed  the  General  and  party. 

At  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  last  farewells  were  spoken, 
we  took  our  leave  of  the  many  kind  and  pleasant  friends  we 
had  made  on  the  "  Venetia,"  and  went  on  board  the  Govern- 
ment yacht. 
Our  landing 
was  at  the 
Apollo  Bun- 
de  r  —  the 
spot  where 
the  Prince  of 
Wales  land- 
ed. The 
tides  in  the 
harbor  are 
high,  and 
there  were 
stone  steps 
over     which 

the  sea  had  been  washing.  As  we  drew  near  the  shore  there 
was  an  immense  crowd  lining  the  wharf  and  a  company  of  Bom- 
bay Volunteers  in  line.  As  the  General  ascended  the  steps 
he  was  met  by  Brigadier-General  Aitcheson,  commanding  the 
forces  ;  Sir  Francis  Souter,  Commissioner  of  Police ;  Mr.  Grant, 
the  Municipal  Commissioner,  and  Colonel  Sexton,  command- 
ing the  Bombay  Volunteers  ;  all  of  whom  gave  him  a  hearty 
welcome  to  India.  The  volunteers  presented  arms,  the  band 
played  our  national  air,  and  the  General,  amid  loud  cheers  from 
the  Europeans  present,  walked  slowly  with  uncovered  head  to 
the  state  carriage.     Accompanied  by  Captain  Frith,  who  repre- 


GOVERNMENT  HOUSE — BOMBAY. 


MALABAR   POIXT. 


607 


sented  the  Governor,  and  attended  by  an  escort  of  native  cav- 
alry, the  General  and  party  made  off  to  Malabar  Point. 

Our  home  in  Bombay  is  at  the  Government  House,  on 
Malabar  Point,  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city.  Malabar  Point  was 
in  other  days  a  holy  place  of  the  Hindoos.  Here  was  a  tem- 
ple, and  it  was  also  believed  that  if  those  who  sinned  made 
a  pilgrimage  to  the  rocks  there  would  be  expiation  or  re- 
generation of  soul.  The  Portuguese  who  came  to  India  were 
breakers  of  images,  who  believed  that  the  religion  of  Christ 
was  best  served  by  the  destruction  of  the  pagan  temples. 
Among  the  temples  which  were  subjected  to  their  pious  zeal 
was  one  on  Malabar  Point.  There  are  only  the  ruins  remain- 
ing, and  masses  of  rock,  bearing  curious  inscriptions,  lie  on  the 
hillside.  Malabar  Point  is  an  edge  of  the  island  of  Bombay 
jutting  out  into  the  Indian  Ocean.  Where  the  bluff  overlooks 
the  waters  it  is  one  hundred  feet  high.  This  remnant  of  the 
rock  has  been  rescued  from  the  sea  and  storm  and  decorated 
with  trees  and  shrubbery,  the  mango  and  the  palm.  Overlook- 
ing the  sea  is  a  battery  with  five  large  guns,  shining  and  black, 
looking  out  upon  the  ocean  and  keeping  watch  over  the  Em- 
pire of  England.  It  is  difficult  to  describe  a  residence  like 
Government  House  on  Malabar  Point.  Architecture  is  simply 
a  battle  with  the  sun.  The  house  is  a  group  of  houses.  As 
you  drive  in  the  grounds  through  stone  gates  that  remind  you 
of  the  porters'  lodges  at  some  stately  English  mansion,  you 
pass  through  an  avenue  of  mango  trees,  past  beds  of  flowers 
throwing  out  their  delicate  fragrance  on  the  warm  morning  air. 
You  come  to  a  one-storied  house  surrounded  with  spacious 
verandas.  There  is  a  wide  state  entrance  covered  with  red 
cloth.  A  guard  is  at  the  foot,  a  native  guard  wearing  the 
English  scarlet,  on  his  shoulders  the  number  indicating  the  regi- 
ment. You  pass  up  the  stairs,  a  line  of  servants  on  either 
side.  The  servants  are  all  Mohammedans  ;  they  wear  long 
scarlet  crowns,  with  white  turbans  ;  on  the  breast  is  a  belt  with 
an  imperial  crown  for  an  escutcheon.  They  salute  you  with 
the  grave,  submissive  grace  of  the  East,  touching  the  forehead 
and   bending  low  the  head,   in   token   of  welcome  and   duty. 


608  RED  SEA  AND  INDIA. 

You  enter  a  hall  and  pass  between  two  rooms — large,  high, 
decorated  in  blue  and  white,  and  look  out  upon  the  gardens 
below,  the  sea  beyond,  and  the  towers  of  Bombay.  One  of 
these  rooms  is  the  state  dining-room,  large  enough  to  dine  fifty- 
people.  The  other  is  the  state  drawing-room.  This  house  is 
only  used  for  ceremonies,  for  meals  and  receptions. 

You  pass  for  one  hundred  paces  under  a  covered  way  over  a 
path  made  of  cement  and  stone,  through  flower  beds  and  palm 
trees,  and  come  to  another  house.  Here  are  the  principal  bed- 
rooms and  private  chambers.  This  also  is  one  story  high,  and 
runs  clown  to  the  sea,  so  that  you  can  stand  on  a  balcony  and 
throw  a  biscuit  into  the  white  surf  as  it  combs  the  shore. 
These  are  the  apartments  assigned  to  General  Grant  and  his 
wife.  There  are  drawing  rooms,  anterooms,  chambers,  the 
walls  high,  the  floors  covered  with  rugs  and  cool  matting.  As 
you  pass  in,  servants,  who  are  sitting  crouched  around  on  the 
floors,  rise  up  and  bend  the  head.  You  note  a  little  group  of 
shoes  at  the  door,  and  learn  that  in  the  East  custom  requires 
those  in  service  to  unslipper  themselves  before  entering  the 
house  of  a  master.  Another  hundred  paces  and  you  come  to 
another  house,  with  wide  verandas,  somewhat  larger  than  the 
General's.  These  are  the  guest  chambers,  and  here  a  part  of 
our  party  reside.  Still  farther  on  is  another  house,  and  here 
the  writer  finds  a  home,  and  as  he  sits  at  the  table  writing  these 
lines  he  looks  out  of  the  open  door,  shaded  by  a  palm  tree,  and 
sees  the  white  surf  as  it  breaks  over  the  rocks,  and  hears  its 
drowsy,  moaning,  unending  roar. 

I  look  out  of  the  window  and  see  a  tall  flagstaff  with  a  stone 
base.  From  this  staff  the  flag  of  England  floats  when  the 
governor  is  home.  My  house  is  a  series  of  rooms  arched  over 
with  light  walls.  The  chamber  in  which  I  write  is  a  comfort- 
able working  room,  with  many  windows  and  easy-chairs.  The 
room  adjoining  is  a  bedchamber.  Other  rooms  complete  the 
suite,  and  from  my  chamber  window  I  can  look  out  on  the  sea, 
on  the  embrasured  guns,  and  watch  the  coming  and  going  of  the 
tides.  You  note  that  the  builders  of  this  house  had  only  one 
idea — to  fight  the  sun.      It  is  now  the  coolest  winter  weather, 


ON  THE    VERANDA— BOMBAY. 


<><><) 


remarkably  cool  for  Bombay.  Every  window  and  every  door 
is  open,  and  even  my  summer  garments  are  warm,  and  when 
weary  with  the  heat  I  throw  down  the  pen  and  walk  out  under 
the  palm  trees,  and  look  at  the  surf  and  woo  the  breezis  that 
come  over  the  seas  from  Persia,  and  throw  myself  upon  the 
lounge  and  dip  into  one  of  the  books  piled  about — books  about 
Indian  history,  religion,  caste — which  I  have  found  in  the 
library,  and  in  which  I  am  trying  to  know  something  of  this 
ancient  and  wonderful  land. 


STREE1    IN    BOMBAY. 


So  far  as  beauty  is  concerned — beauty  of  an  Indian  charac- 
ter, with  as  much  comfort  as  is  possible  in  Hindostan — nothing 
could  be  more  attractive  than  our  home  on  Malabar  Point. 
We  are  the  guests  of  the  Governor,  and  the  honors  of  his  house 
are  done  by  Captain  Frith  and  Captain  Radcliffe,  of  the  army, 
two  accomplished  young  officers,  the  last  representatives  of  the 
last  type  of  the  English  soldier  and  gentleman.  We  take  our 
meals  in  the  state  dining-room,  and  when  dinner  is  over  we 
stroll  over  to  the  General's  bungalow,  and  sit  with  him  on  the 
veranda  looking  out  on  the  sea — sit  late  into  the  night,  talking 

39 


5IO  RED   SEA  AND    INDIA. 

about  India,  and  home,  and  all  the  strange  phases  of  this  civi- 
lization. Mrs.  Grant  seems  to  enjoy  every  moment  of  the  visit, 
more  especially  as  we  are  to  have  a  week's  mail  on  Wednesday, 
and  the  steamer  never  breaks  its  word.  Mr.  Boric  is  in  fine 
spirits  and  health,  all  things  considered,  and  has  surprised  us  in 
the  virtue  of  early  rising.  All  manner  of  plans  are  proposed 
to  induce  Mr.  Borie  to  throw  luster  upon  the  expedition  by  de- 
stroying a  tiger  and  carrying  home  a  trophy  of  his  prowess  to 
Philadelphia,  but  he  steadily  declines  these  importunities,  tak- 
ing the  high-minded  ground  that  he  has  never  had  a  misunder- 
standing with  a  tiger  in  his  life,  and  does  not  propose  now  to 
cultivate  the  resentments  of  the  race. 

The  attentions  paid  to  the  General  and  his  party  by  the 
people  of  Bombay  have  been  so  marked  and  continuous  that 
most  of  our  time  has  been  taken  up  in  receiving  and  acknowl- 
edging them.  What  most  interests  us,  coming  fresh  from 
Europe,  is  the  entire  novelty  of  the  scene,  the  way  of  living, 
the  strange  manners  and  customs.  All  your  impressions  of 
India,  gathered  from  the  scattered  reading  of  busy  days  at  home, 
are  vague.  Somehow  you  associate  India  with  your  ideas  of 
pageantry.  The  history  of  the  country  has  been  written  in 
such  glowing  colors,  you  have  read  Oriental  poems,  you  have 
fallen  under  the  captivating  rhetoric  of  Macaulay,  you  look  for 
nature  in  a  luxuriant  form,  for  splendor  and  ornament,  for 
bazaars  laden  with  gems  and  gold,  for  crowded  highways,  with 
elephants  slowly  plodding  their  way  along.  My  first  thought 
was  to  inquire  for  the  Car  of  Juggernaut,  which  occupies  some 
such  place  in  your  mind  as  a  Barnum  show.  Therefore,  when 
you  look  upon  India — India  as  seen  in  this  her  greatest  city — 
you  are  surprised  to  find  it  all  so  hard  and  baked  and  brown. 
You  miss  the  greenness  of  field  and  hill-side.  You  see  a 
people  who  have  nothing  in  common  with  any  race  you  know. 
There  are  so  many  types,  curious  and  varying,  that  your  impres- 
sions are  bewildered  and  indefinite.  I  suppose  in  time,  as  we 
go  into  the  country,  and  know  it,  we  shall  see  that  this  civiliza- 
tion has  lines  of  harmony  like  what  we  left  behind  us,  that  there 
are  reasons  for  all  the  odd  things  we  see,  just  as   there  are 


LIFE  AT  MALABAR    POIA  T.  ^yl 

reasons  for  many  odd  things  in  America,  and  that  Indian  civili- 
zation even  now,  when  its  glory  has  departed — its  mightiest 
States  are  mere  appendages  of  the  British  Empire — when  day 
after  day  it  bends  and  crumbles  under  the  stern  hand  and  cold 
brain  of  the  Saxon,  is  rich  in  the  lessons  and  qualities  which 
have  for  ages  excited  the  ambition  and  the  wonder  of  the  world. 

Indian  life,  however,  as  far  as  I  can  see  it,  is  simply  a  life 
at  Government  House  on  Malabar  Point.  What  you  note  in 
the  arrangement  of  a  house  like  this  is  the  number  of  servants 
necessary  to  its  order.  There  is  a  minute  division  of  labor  and 
a  profusion  of  laborers.  When  I  began  this  paragraph  it  was 
my  intention  to  say  how  many  servants  waited  on  me,  for 
instance,  in  my  own  modest  bungalow.  But  the  calculation  is 
beyond  me.  At  my  door  there  is  always  one  in  waiting,  a 
comely,  olive-tinted  fellow,  with  a  melting  dark  eye.  If  I  move 
across  the  room  he  follows  with  noiseless  step  to  anticipate  my 
wishes.  If  I  sit  down  to  read  or  write,  I  am  conscious  of  a 
presence  as  of  a  shadow,  and  I  look  up  and  see  him  at  my 
shoulder  or  looking  in  at  the  window  awaiting  a  summons.  If 
I  look  out  of  my  bedchamber  window  toward  the  ocean,  I  see 
below  another  native  in  a  blue  gown  with  a  yellow  turban.  He 
wears  a  badge  with  a  number.  He  is  a  policeman  and  guards 
the  rear  of  the  bungalow.  If  I  venture  across  the  road  to  look 
in  upon  some  of  my  friends,  a  servant  comes  out  of  the  shade 
of  a  tree  with  an  umbrella.  His  duty  is  to  keep  off  the  sun. 
You  cannot  pass  from  house  to  house  without  a  procession 
forming  around  you. 

The  General  strolled  over  a  few  minutes  asro  with  some  let- 
ters  for  the  post,  and  as  I  saw  him  coming  it  was  a  small  pro- 
cession—  a  scarlet  servant  running  ahead  to  announce  him, 
other  scarlet  servants  in  train.  If  you  go  out  at  night  toward 
the  Government  House  for  dinner,  one  in  scarlet  stands  up 
from  under  a  tree,  with  a  lantern,  and  pilots  you  over  a  road  as 
clearly  marked  as  your  own  door-sill.  In  the  early  morning, 
as  you  float  from  the  land  of  dreams  into  a  land  of  deeds,  your 
first  consciousness  is  of  a  presence  leaning  over  yoiir  couch, 
with  coffee  or  fruit  or  some  intimation  of  morning.      If  you  go 


6l  2 


RED   SEA   AND   INDIA. 


driving,  servants  in  scarlet  cluster  about  your  carriage,  and  in 
the  General's  case  there  is  always  a  guard  of  native  horsemen. 
If  you  could  talk  with  your  natives  you  might  gain  some  curious 
information.  But  they  know  no  English,  and  your  only  method 
is   pantomime.      This   constant   attention,  curious   at  first,  be- 


ON    THE    VERANDA    AT    MALABAR    POINT. 


comes,  especially  to  eager  Americans  taught  to  help  themselves 
in  most  of  the  offices  of  life,  oppressive.  But  there  is  no  help 
for  it.  I  went  into  Mr.  Borie's  room  last  evening,  and  found 
him  quite  disconsolate  over  a  native  who  was  creeping  about 
him,  tearing  his  buttons  and  trying  to  put  him  in  order.  Mr. 
Borie  in  every  key  and  intonation  was  trying  to  tell  the  native 


COBRA    CASTLE. 


6l3 


that  he  did  not  want  him,  that  he  could  manage  his  buttons 
unaided.  I  tried  to  help  him  out,  but  my  knowledge  of  the 
dialect  was  scarcely  comprehensive  enough  to  help  a  friend  in 
an  emergency.  There  was  no  resource  but  to  bow  to  fate.  1  n 
the  evening,  thanks  to  the  offices  of  Captain  Frith,  Mr.  Borie 
added  to  his  knowledge  of  tongues  the  Hindostan  phrase  for 
"  Let  me  alone."  Since  then  there  has  been  comparative  peace 
in  "  Tiger  Hall." 

"Tiger  Hall"  is  the  name  we  have  given  to  Mr.  Borie's 
bungalow.  You  see  that,  forty  years  ago,  this  Malabar  Point 
was  a  jungle,  and  sportsmen  came  here  and  shot  tigers  among 
these  very  rocks,  where  we  stroll  about  in  the  cool  of  the  even- 
ing, smoking  our  cigars  and  looking  down  upon  the  tumbling 
surf. 

My  own  bungalow  is  called  Cobra  Castle.  I  cannot  imag- 
ine what  gruesome  fancy  led  to  that  name.  I  am  afraid  it  was 
the  Colonel,  fertile  in  epithet.  After  the  tiger,  the  cobra  is  the 
common  enemy  of  man  in  India.  The  cobra  is  a  snake,  from 
whose  bite  no  human  being  has  ever  recovered.  The  Govern- 
ment has  taken  steps  to  extinguish  the  cobra.  It  has  offered 
a  large  reward  to  any  one  who  will  discover  a  remedy  for  the 
bite.  The  most  gifted  doctors  in  England,  men  as  eminent  as 
Sir  Joseph  Fayror  and  Dr.  Lasedar  Brunton,  have  been  at  work 
for  years  to  discover  some  remedy  for  the  poison.  Bounties 
are  paid  to  the  natives  for  every  snake  killed.  But  here  comes 
in  an  old  superstition,  as  in  the  case  of  the  tiger,  the  supersti- 
tion that  the  snake  also  is  a  sacred  animal.  One  of  the  strange 
fancies  of  the  Hindoo  is  that  gods  should  be  worshiped  not 
alone  because  of  the  good  they  can  do,  but  of  the  evil.  Wor- 
ship, therefore,  is  often  a  means  of  propitiation,  and  the  tiger 
and  cobra,  as  the  most  deadly  of  animals,  the  representatives  of 
the  most  fatal  influences,  are  protected  and  revered.  The  re- 
sult of  this  is  that  the  native  does  not  sustain  the  Government  in 
its  efforts  to  extirpate  animals,  who,  according  to  statistics,  take 
nearly  twenty  thousand  lives  a  year.  If  a  cordial  support  were 
given  by  the  people  there  would  not  be  in  ten  years  a  tiger  or 
a  cobra  in  India.     They  would  be  as  scarce  as  wolves  in  France. 


6 14 


RED  SEA   AND   INDIA. 


The  fact  that  my  bungalow  is  apart  by  itself,  near  the  sea, 
overlooking  the  rocks,  and  open  to  any  invasion,  led  to  its 
being  called  Cobra  Castle.  But  I  am  bound  to  say  that  I 
have  seen  no  animal  within  its  walls  but  a  harmless  lizard, 
about  six  inches  long,  which  curled  itself  under  one  of  the 
arches  and  clung  there  in  a  torpid  condition. 

There  is  some  comfort  in  knowing  that  the  winter  is  not 
the  season  for  the  active  participation  of  the  cobra  in  the  duties 
of  life.  He  comes  out  under  the  influence  of  summer  suns  and 
the  rain.  As  it  is,  I  suppose  there  is  as  much  danger  in  our 
bungalows  from  wild  and  poisonous  animals  as  in  the  New 
York  house  of  Mr.  Delmonico.  We  live  in  sumptuous  fashion. 
There  is  the  ever  present  sea,  the  shading  trees,  the  walks,  the 
perfume  of  the  flowers  scenting  the  air — the  beautiful  bay, 
which  reminds  you  of  Naples.  In  the  early  morning  and  the 
evening  you  are  permitted  to  go  out  and  ride  or  stroll.  When 
the  sun  is  up  you  must  remain  in-doors.  We  have  had  our 
own  experiences  of  the  sun  at  home,  and  you  cannot  understand 
the  terror  which  he  inspires  in  India.  An  hour  or  two  ago  the 
Colonel  came  into  my  bungalow,  and  as  he  passed  to  his  own  I 
strolled  with  him,  perhaps  a  hundred  paces,  without  putting,  on 
my  helmet.  One  of  our  friends  of  the  staff,  who  happened  to 
be  at  the  door,  admonished  me  in  the  gravest  manner  of  the 
danger  that  I  had  incurred.  "I  would  not,"  he  said,  "have 
done  that  for  a  thousand  rupees.  You  have  no  idea  how 
treacherous  the  sun  is  here.  Even  when  the  breeze  is  blowing 
you  must  not  even  for  an  instant  allow  your  head  to  be  uncov- 
ered. The  consequences  may  attend  you  through  life."  This 
morning  the  General  went  out  on  horseback  for  a  spin  through 
the  country,  accompanied  by  Sir  Francis  Souter,  Captain  Frith, 
and  Colonel  Grant.  Seven  was  the  hour  named — "because," 
said  Sir  Francis,  "we  must  be  homebefore  nine.  In  India  we 
dare  not  trifle  with  the  sun." 

Life  in  Bombay  grew  to  be  almost  home-life  under  the 
genial  hospitality  of  our  hosts.  Although  we  had  been  a  week 
in  Bombay,  there  was  so  much  of  Europe  about  us  that  we 
could  not  make  up  our  minds  that  we  were  in  India.      We  had 


PROSPERITY   <>/■     BOMBA  Y. 


615 


not  seen  a  tiger  or  a  cobra,  and  all  our  associations  were  with  Eu- 
ropeans. There  was  a  club  where  you  could  read  the  English 
and  New  York  newspapers.  There  was  a  racing  club,  where  you 
could  sit  at  your  window  and  see  the  horses  gallop  over  the 
course.  There  were  two  or  three  English  newspapers  published 
in  Bombay,  two  in  English — the  Gazette  and  The  Times  in  In- 
dia— well  printed  and  well  written.  It  is  wonderful  how  speedily 
you  go  through  a  paper  that  has  no  roots  in  your  own  country, 


TOWER    OF   SILENXE,    MALABAR    POINT — BOMBAY. 


and  how  even  as  sad  an  article  as  a  minute  on  the  famine  has  no 
interest  to  you.  Bombay  is  more  European  than  Indian,  and 
I  suppose  will  always  be  so  while  the  sea  throws  the  commerce 
of  the  world  upon  her  wharves.  Much  of  the  prosperity  of 
Bombay — which  you  see  in  large,  majestic  stores,  in  colleges, 
esplanades,  and  wharves — came  from  our  American  war.  "  It 
is  odd,"  said  an  Englishman,  "that  Bombay  and  General  Grant 
should  be  face  to  face,  for  the  General  ruined  Bombay." 

Then  came  the  story  of  the  cotton  mania  which  raged  dur- 
ing the   American  war.      The  cessation  of  the  cotton  supply  of 


616  RE1)   SEA    AND   INDIA. 

the  United  States  threw  England  back  upon  India  and  Egypt. 
The  year  before  our  war  Bombay  exported  about  826, 000,000 
worth  of  cotton.  During  the  war  the  average  yearly  export 
was  over  $100,000,000.  Here  was  a  gain  to  Bombay  in  four 
years  of  $350,000,000,  and  this  sudden  addition  to  the  wealth 
of  the  city  engendered  every  form  of  speculation.  If  people 
had  reasoned  they  would  have  known  that,  whatever  way  the 
war  ended — whether  the  North  or  South  won — the  close  would 
have  been  the  revival  of  the  cotton  crop  and  an  end  of  these 
false  values.  But  the  gambler  never  reasons,  and  Bombay,  ac- 
cording to  one  of  the  historians  of  the  panic,  believed  that 
"the  genius  of  Lee"  and  "the  stubborn  valor  of  the  soldiers" 
would  make  the  war  last  for  a  longer  time.  A  good  deal  of 
this  confidence  was  due  to  the  tone  of  the  London  press  on  the 
American  war,  which,  when  read  now  in  the  cold  light  of  logi- 
cal and  veritable  events,  represents  the  lowest  point  ever 
reached  in  the  degradation  of  journalism.  The  Bombay  mer- 
chant read  his  English  newspaper  and  believed  it,  and  continued 
to  gamble.  Banks  were  established — shipping  and  iron  com- 
panies, financial  associations,  land  companies,  reclamation 
schemes,  railway  companies,  spinning  and  weaving,  companies 
in  gas,  coffee,  cotton,  oil,  and  brick.  Six  hundred  per  cent,  was 
a  fair  return  for  one's  investments  in  those  days,  and  I  suppose 
no  city  in  the  world  was  so  prosperous  as  Bombay  in  1865. 
If  Lee  and  Grant  had  fought  a  twenty  years  campaign  this 
might  have  continued.  But  in  the  spring  of  1865  a  telegram 
came  announcing  that  Lee  had  surrendered,  and  Bombay  col- 
lapsed. The  companies  went  to  the  wall.  A  firm  of  Parsee 
merchants  failed  for  $15,000,000,  and  before  the  end  of  the 
year  there  was  not  one  company  remaining  of  the  hundred 
which  had  arisen  during  the  war.  And  all  coming  from  a  tele- 
gram which,  in  the  afternoon  of  April,  9,  1865,  General  Grant, 
sitting  on  a  stone  by  the  wayside  of  Appomatox,  wrote  in  pen- 
cil in  his  memorandum  book — "  The  army  of  Northern  Virginia 
surrended  to  me  this  afternoon."  The  year  1865  is  known  as 
the  year  of  panic,  insanity,  and  bankruptcy.  I  have  heard 
stories  of  that  mad  time  from  many  who  were  here  and  saw  it. 


ELEPHANTA    CAVES. 


617 


Those  days  of  mania  were  days  of  splendor  for  Bombay  in 
many  ways,  and  it  was  pointed  out  that  all  the  magnificent 
buildings  which  strike  your  eye  on  landing  came  from  the  men 
who  were  mad  with  the  cotton  mania. 

There  was  a  visit  to  the  English  man-of-war  "  Euryolus," 
the  flagship  of  the  English  squadron  in  India.  Admiral  Cor- 
bett  received  the  General,  and  on  his  leaving  the  vessel  fired 
twenty-one  guns.  There  was  a  visit  to  the  Elephanta  Caves, 
one  of  the 
sights  in  In- 
dia. We  left 
the  wharf 
and  steamed 
across  the 
bay  in  a  small 
launch  be- 
longing to 
the  Govern- 
ment. The 
aftern  o  on 
was  beauti- 
f  u 1  ,  the 
islands  in  the 
bay  break- 
ing up  the  horizon  into  various  forms  of  beauty  that  reminded 
you  of  Italy  and  the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean.  Ele- 
phanta Caves  belong  to  Hindoo  theology.  Here  in  the 
rocks  the  Brahmins  built  their  temples,  and  now,  on  holy  days, 
the  people  come  and  worship  their  gods  according  to  the 
ritual  of  their  ancestors.  What  the  temple  might  have  been 
in  its  best  days  you  cannot  imagine  from  the  ruins.  After  see- 
ing the  stupendous  remnants  of  ancient  monuments  in  Egypt, 
Karnak  and  Abydos  and  Memphis,  you  cannot  enter  into  the 
enthusiasm  with  which  rocks  like  these  at  Elephanta  are  re- 
garded. In  Egypt  you  see  that  religion  was  the  supreme  ex- 
pression of  the  people's  life,  and  there  is  nothing  else  in  her 
monuments.     The  same   might   be  said  of  India,  but  the  men 


[ANTA   CAVES. 


6i8  RED    SEA    A  AD   INDIA. 

who  dug  out  the  Elcphanta  Caves  and  fashioned  the  rocks  into 
temples  and  the  forms  of  gods,  had  not  the  earnest  spirit  of 
those  who  built  the  mighty  monuments  whose  ruins  strew  the 
banks  of  the  Nile. 

Our  visit  to  Elephanta  was  a  kind  of  picnic.  Everything 
we  have  seen  in  India  thus  far  has  a  Prince  of  Wales  value,  if 
1  may  use  the  expression.  You  are  taken  to  see  things  be- 
cause the  Prince  of  Wales  saw  them  on  his  tour.  It  is  remem- 
bered that  the  Prince  came  to  the  caves  and  dined  in  the  halls 
consecrated  in  the  Hindoo  eyes  to  sacred  memories.  There 
were  illuminations  and  fireworks,  and  the  night  was  so  warm  that 
no  one  enjoyed  the  dinner.  We  have  a  cooling  breeze  coming 
in  from  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  as  we  slowly  climb  easy  flights 
of  steps  we  have  an  almost  naked  retinue  of  Hindoos,  in  vari- 
ous stages  of  squalor,  asking  alms  and  offering  to  sell  us  gold 
beetles.  The  temples  are  reached  in  time,  and  we  stroll  about 
studying  out  the  figures,  noting  the  columns  and  the  curious 
architecture,  full,  rude,  massive,  unlike  any  forms  of  architec- 
tural art  familiar  to  us.  The  main  temple  is  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  feet  long  and  the  same  in  width.  The  idols  are 
hewn  out  of  the  rock.  The  faces  of  some  are  comely,  and 
there  is  a  European  expression  in  the  features  that  startles  you. 
The  type  is  a  higher  one  than  those  we  saw  in  Egypt.  One 
of  the  idols  is  supposed  to  be  the  Hindoo  Trinity — Brahma, 
Vishnu,  and  Siva.  There  is  matter  for  thought  in  the  fact  that 
the  idea  of  the  Trinity,  of  the  holiest  of  holy  mysteries,  was 
somehow  grasped  by  these  pagan  worlds  long  before  our 
blessed  Lord  came  amonc  men.  There  is  a  figure  of  a  woman 
with  a  single  breast — the  wife  of  Siva — and  you  note  in  these 
pagan  faiths  that  woman,  who  holds  so  sad  a  place  in  their  do- 
mestic economy,  was  worshiped  as  fervently  as  some  of  us 
worship  the  Virgin.  It  is  the  tribute  which  even  the  heathen 
pays,  as  if  by  instinct,  to  the  supreme  blessing  of  maternity. 
But  when  the  Portuguese  came  with  the  sword  and  the  cross 
little  mercy  was  shown  to  the  homes  of  the  pagan  gods.  It  is 
believed  that  these  temples  were  cut  out  of  the  rocks  in  the 
tenth  century,  and  that  for  eight  hundred  years  these  stony  em. 


PARSEE'S  S(  //<>(>/.. 


619 


blems,  which  we  finger  and  poke:  with  canes,  were  worshiped. 
General  Grant  observes  that  his  memories  of  Karnak  make  it 
difficult  for  him  to  appreciate  the  caves  at  their  true  value.  So 
we  saunter  about  and  look  out  on  the  waters  and  watch  the 
descending  sun  throw  its  purple  golden  shadows  over  Bombay. 
The  night  is  falling  as  our  launch  pushes  into  the  bay.  In  this 
land  there  is  no  twilight,  and  a  few  minutes  after  the  sun  goes 
down  darkness  reigns,  darkness  over  everything,  only  the  lights 
of  the  distant  town  and  the  stars  looking  clown  from  a  cloud- 
less sky. 

There  were  visits  to  be  made,  and  Monday  was  a  busy  day. 
Letters  were  written.  Mail  day  does  not  come  as  often  in 
India  as  at  home,  and  throughout  the  dominion  it  is  a  day 
dedicated  to  home.  I  am  afraid  we  caught  the  infection,  for 
Sunday  was  given  to  zealous  correspondence,  and  the  steamer 
that  went  out  on  Monday  caused  an  addition  to  her  majesty's 
postal  revenues.  There  was  a  visit  to  the  school  of  a  Parsee 
gentleman,  whose  hobby  is  education.  Our  Parsee  friend  had 
spent  a  good  deal  of  money  on  his  school  ;  and  as  the  educa- 
tion of  woman  is  something  new  and  startling  to  the  Indian 
mind,  it  was  interesting  to  see  the  progress  of  the  experiment. 
We  visited  the  school  in  the  afternoon  of  February  1 7,  and 
were  received  by  the  scholars  and  teachers  rising  and  singing 
the  English  national  anthem.  One  of  the  scholars,  a  young 
lady  of  fifteen,  recited  one  of  Macaulay's  lays  ;  another,  the 
advice  of  Polonius  to  his  son.  The  accent  was  peculiar,  and  it 
was  difficult  to  adjust  the  Oriental  twisting  of  the  syllables  to 
an  American  ear.  The  first  impression  was  that  the  scholars 
were  speaking  a  foreign  tongue  ;  but  in  a  moment  or  two  we 
became  accustomed  to  it.  The  recitations  were  well  done, 
especially  Polonius  to  Laertes,  a  speech  more  apt  to  impress 
the  Oriental  mind,  given  to  proverbs  and  metaphors,  than  the 
fiery,  clanging  verses  of  Macaulay.  There  was  music,  and  an 
exposition  of  needlework  and  embroidery.  The  students  looked 
graceful  in  their  embroidered  jackets  and  caps,  and  although  it 
was  very  warm  and  the  room  in  which  the  school  was  gathered 
was    oppressive    and    inconvenient,    our  visit  was  interesting. 


62o  Rrn    SEA    AND   INDIA. 

The  future  of  India  lies  in  the  advancement  and  education  of 
her  people,  and  whatever  looks  toward  that  is  a  hopeful  sign. 

On  Monday  the  General  was  entertained  in  state  at  the 
Government  House  at  Malabar  Point.  Hon.  James  Gibbs,  the 
member  of  the  Council  who  acted  as  Governor  in  the  absence 
of  Sir  Richard  Temple,  presided,  and  at  the  close  of  the  din- 
ner the  company  drank  the  health  of  the  General.  In  re- 
sponse the  General  referred  to  the  kindness  he  had  received  in 
India,  which  was  only  renewing  the  kindness  shown  him  all 
over  Europe,  and  which  he  accepted  as  an  evidence  of  the  good 
will  which  really  existed  between  Englishmen  and  Americans, 
and  which  was  to  his  mind  the  best  assurance  of  peace  for  all 
nations.  After  the  dinner  the  General  received  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  native  merchants  and  gentlemen  of  Bombay.  It 
seemed  odd  to  our  American  eyes  that  merchants  and  gentle- 
men should  be  asked  to  come  in  at  the  end  of  a  feast  and  not 
to  take  part.  But  this  exclusion  is  their  own  wish.  Many  of 
these  merchants  and  gentlemen  belong  to  castes  who  look  on 
the  food  of  the  Europeans  as  unclean,  who  believe  in  the 
sacredness  of  life,  and  will  not  eat  animal  food,  and  who  could 
not  sit  at  the  table  with  the  General  without  losing  caste. 
These  men  will  meet  you  in  business,  will  serve  you  in  various 
ways,  but  their  religion  prevents  their  sharing  your  table.  So 
the  invitation  to  the  natives  to  meet  the  General  was  fixed  at 
an  hour  when  dinner  was  over. 

They  came  in  groups — Hindoos,  Arabs,  Parsees,  native 
officers  in  uniforms,  in  quaint  flowing  costumes.  The  General 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  hallway,  with  Mr.  Gibbs  and  Major 
Rivett-Carnac,  the  Governor's  military  secretary.  As  each  na- 
tive advanced  he  was  presented  to  the  General  with  some  word 
of  history  or  compliment  from  Mr.  Gibbs.  "  This  is  So-and- 
So,  an  eminent  Brahmin  scholar,  who  stands  high  among  our 
barristers  ; "  or,  "  This  is  So-and-So,  a  Parsee  merchant,  who 
has  done  a  great  deal  of  good  to  Bombay,  and  has  been 
knighted  for  his  services  by  the  Queen  ;  "  or,  "  This  is  the  old- 
est Arab  merchant  ;  "  or,  "  This  is  a  gallant  officer  in  our  na- 
tive cavalry ;  "  or,  "  This   is   the   leading  diamond  merchant  in 


BOMBAY. 


621 


Bombay,  a  Hindoo  gentleman,  one  of  the  richest  in  India." 
As  each  of  them  advanced  it  was  with  folded  hands,  as  in 
prayer,  or  saluting  by  touching  the  breast  and  brow  in  the  sub- 
missive, graceful,  bending  way,  so  strange  to  our  eyes.  Here 
were  men  of  many  races — the  Parsee  from  Persia,  the  Arab 
from  Cairo,  whose  ancestors  may  have  ridden  with  Omar  ;  the 
Brahmin  of  a  holy  caste,  in  whose  veins  runs  the  stainless  blood 
of   Indian    nobility,    descendant  of  men   who  were   priests  and 


PUUNA,    NE.U    BOMB  A  V 


rulers  ages  before  England  had  risen  from  her  clouds  of  bar- 
barism. Between  these  races  there  is  no  love.  If  they  do  not 
like  England,  they  hate  one  another.  Religious  differences, 
tradition,  memories  of  war  and  conquest,  the  unaccountable  an- 
tipathies of  race  which  we  have  not  eliminated  from  our  civili- 
zation— all  generate  a  fierce  animosity  which  would  break  into 
flames  once  the  restraining  hand  were  lifted.  What  welds 
them  together  is  the  power  of  England,  and  as  you  look  at  this 
picturesque  group — their  heads,  full  eyes,  their  fine  Asiatic 
type   of  face,  clear  and   well    cut — here  assembled  peacefully, 


g22  Kl  />   SEA   AND   INDIA. 

you  sec  the  extent  of  the  empire  to  which  they  all  owe  alle- 
giance, and  you  admire  the  genius  and  courage  which  has 
brought  them  to  submit  to  a  rule,  which,  whatever  it  may  have 
been  in  the  past,  grows  more  and  more  beneficent. 

This  dinner  at  Malabar  Point  closed  our  visit  to  Bombay. 
After  the  reception  of  the  native  gentlemen  and  merchants 
the  General  strolled  over  to  his  bungalow,  and,  sitting  on 
the  veranda  looking  out  upon  the  ocean,  he  conversed  for  a 
long  time  with  Mr.  Gibbs,  Major  Carnac,  Mr.  Borie,  and  the 
gentlemen  of  the  household.  It  was  our  last  night  in  Bombay, 
and  so  many  things  were  to  be  talked  about — the  English  in 
India,  and  the  strange  romance  of  their  governing  India.  It  is 
in  conversations  such  as  these,  where  you  meet  gifted  men, 
charged  with  great  trusts,  full  of  their  work,  and  familiar  with 
it,  that  travel  has  its  advantages,  and  especially  to  one  in  the 
position  of  General  Grant.  Himself  a  commander  of  men  and 
ruler  of  a  nation,  it  is  instructive  to  compare  notes  with  men 
like  those  he  meets  in  India,  who  are  charged  with  the  rule  of 
an  empire.  The  interesting  fact  in  India  as  a  political  ques- 
tion is  this  :  Here  the  Englishman  is  solving  the  problem  of 
how  to  govern  an  ancient  and  vast  civilization,  or  rather,  varie- 
ties of  civilization,  to  govern  it  by  prestige  and  the  sword.  In 
America  the  Englishman  is  trying  to  create  a  new  nation,  based 
on  a  democracy.  The  two  problems  are  full  of  interest,  and, 
fresh  from  English-speaking  America,  we  see  something  new 
every  hour  in  English-governed  India.  The  governments  are 
as  far  apart  as  the  Poles,  for  there  is  no  despotism  more  abso- 
lute than  the  government  of  India.  Mighty,  irresponsible, 
cruel,  but  with  justice,  and,  after  safety,  mercy.  This  is  what 
you  see  in  India. 

On  Tuesday  we  left  Bombay.  The  day  was  very  warm — 
oppressively  warm.  We  had  an  idea  of  what  might  be  felt  in 
an  Indian  summer.  The  General  drove  into  town  and  made 
some  farewell  calls.  At  five  he  left  Government  House  in  a 
state  carriage,  accompanied  by  Major  Carnac,  who  represented 
Governor  Temple,  and  escorted  by  a  squadron  of  cavalry.  On 
arriving  at  the  station   there  was  a  guard  of  honor  of   native 


LEAVING   BOMBAY. 


623 


infantry  drawn  up,  which  presented  arms  and  lowered  colors. 
All  the  leading  men  of  the  Bombay  government — Parsee  and 
native  merchants  ;  our  consul,  Mr.  Farnham,  whose  kindness 
to  us  was  untiring;  Mr.  Gibbs,  and  all  the  members  of  the  Gov- 
ernment household — were  present.  Among  those  who  came 
to  say  good-by  was  Colonel  H.  S.  Olcott  of  New  York.  Colonel 
Olcott  had  just  arrived  in  India,  where  he  proposes  to  study 
Indian  philosophy.  He  was  accompanied  by  some  Brahmins 
of  high  caste,  whom  he  presented  to  the  General.  In  a  few 
minutes  the  signal  for  leaving  was  made,  and  the  General, 
thanking  his  good  friends  of  Malabar  Point,  the  train  pushed 
off  amid  cheers  and  the  salutes  of  the  military. 

Two  comfortable  cars,  something  like  our  parlor  cars,  had 
been  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  party,  and  a  well  provided 
larder  had  been  secretly  stowed  away  by  our  ever  thoughtful 
friends  to  console  us  on  our  long  journey  to  the  north.  Bid- 
ding farewell  as  the  train  pushed  onward  from  the  station, 
crowded  with  officers  in  full  uniform  and  their  ladies,  we  caught 
the  familiar  sound  of  three  hearty  cheers  given  by  the  residents 
of  the  little  American  colony.  Unfortunately  the  night  had  set 
in  before  we  had  reached  the  top  of  the  Ghauts,  where  the  cool 
breeze  and  the  charming  view  made  the  attraction  for  a  summer 
residence  to  the  citizen  of  Bombay.  One  little  station  at  which 
we  took  tea  was  decorated  with  entwined  English  and  Ame- 
rican flags.  The  next  morning  at  daybreak  we  found  ourselves 
flying  through  the  country  at  about  thirty  miles  an  hour,  stop- 
ping occasionally  at  a  picturesque  little  station  or  bungalow, 
tastefully  decorated  with  flowing  vines  and  shading  bamboo 
screens,  and  situated  either  in  a  barren  jungle  or  shaded  by  a 
group  of  mango  trees  and  surrounded  by  well-cultivated  fields 
of  rice  or  cotton.  The  distant  hills  on  either  side,  rocky  and 
wild,  indicated  the  well-known  home  of  tigers  and  cobras,  but 
the  valleys  studded  with  groups  of  mango  trees,  looking  much 
like  oak,  reminded  us  of  many  a  home  scene,  and  really  looked 
familiar.  The  ride  was  a  dusty  one,  for  rain  had  not  fallen 
since  September,  and  the  few  occasional  showers  which  usually 
attend  the  blossoming  of  the  mango,  which  had  not  appeared, 


624 


RED   SEA   ANIi  INDIA. 


were  now  the  dread  of  the  people,  who  feared  their  coming  to 
ruin  the  ripening  crops.  At  half-past  nine  p.m.  our  guide  book 
notified  us  that  we  were  nearing  Icbulpur,  at  which  place  we 
intended  spending  the  night  in  order  to  see  the  far-famed  mar- 
ble rocks  on  the  following  day.  We  were  met  by  the  Deputy 
Commissioner,  and  were  driven  to  the  hotel.  The  hotel  is  like 
all  the  houses  here,  situated  apart,  like  our  country  houses,  and 
is  a  most  imposing  structure.  It  is  said  to  have  been  built  by 
a  native  of  considerable  wealth,  in  anticipation  of  his  marriage, 


NATIVE   VILLAGE. 


but  the  young  lady,  unlike  others  of  her  race,  was  permitted  to 
change  her  mind,  and  the  disappointed  lover  sold  the  house. 
The  house — a  type  of  those  in  this  part  of  the  country — is 
built  of  brick,  coated  with  lime,  and  the  frequent  whitewashing 
which  seems  to  be  a  part  of  the  religious  morning  ceremonies 
of  the  natives,  gives  the  appearance  of  marble  to  all  the  struc- 
tures seen  in  the  native  town.  A  narrow  winding  staircase  on 
either  side  brings  us  to  the  top  of  the  portico.  A  balcony  from 
which  a  very  fine  view  of  the  surrounding  country  is  seen,  opens 
into  a  large  hall,  for  the  house  has  two  stories,  with  a  very  high 


WOMEN  OF  INDIA. 


625 


ceiling  of  Moorish  architecture,  and  with  its  bedrooms  open  on 
either  side.  The  little  room  at  the  end  of  the  bedroom,  with  a 
stone  floor,  is  the  bath  room,  a  large  tub  in  the  center,  which  is 
soon  filled  by  a  waiter  who  empties  into  it  the  contents  of  a 
coat's  skin  water-sack. 


Early  the  next  morning  we  took  our  places  in  carriages,  ac- 
companied by  Judge  Berry,  for  a  picnic  to  the  rocks.  It  was  a 
twelve  mile  trip,  ten  of  which  were  along  an  avenue  shaded  by 
mango  trees,  as  good  a  road  as  I  ever  saw.  Changing  horses 
at  a  village  about  halfway,  we  saw  the  native  houses,  clustered 
together,  which  were  whitewashed,  and  presented  an  exceedingly 
attractive   appearance.     Each  has  a  little  portico  of  the  purest 


626  RKn   SEA   AND  INDIA. 

white,  with  a  little  stoop.  The  walls  are  low,  and  the  roof  is 
tiled  with  a  covering'  of  long,  dried,  native  grass.  A  little  circle, 
surrounded  by  a  long  brick  wall,  resembling  a  fountain  cistern, 
is  in  front  of  each  house,  and  in  these  the  natives  sit  and  do 
their  work,  weaving  or  pottery,  both  of  which  seem  their  favo- 
rite avocation.  What  a  curious  picture  these  people  present! 
Tall,  fine-looking,  muscular  fellows,  many  with  winsome  faces, 
but  scant  in  clothing,  lounge  around.  The  women,  with  their 
one  garment  covering  their  head  and  then  wrapped  gracefully 
over  the  chest,  are  worthy  studies  for  an  artist.  Scarlet  is  their 
favorite  color,  and  their  graceful  figures,  which  are  rendered  so 
by  the  burdens  they  carry  upon  their  heads,  made  a  group 
exceedingly  attractive.  The  women  are  the  workers.  They 
are  seen  in  the  fields  ;  they  do  a  full  share  in  the  very  hard 
work  of  building;  they  seem  less  idle,  but  at  the  same  time 
their  slavery  does  not  seem  to  oppress  them,  for  their  gayety, 
as  they  file  along  in  rows  with  water  jugs,  proves  them  to  be 
happy  in  their  ignorance  of  anything  better.  The  children  are 
very  bright ;  one  little  fellow  became  a  great  favorite  with  the 
party,  his  bright  black  eyes  and  smiling  face  were  very  attrac- 
tive. We  left  our  carriage  after  ten  miles'  ride,  and  continued 
the  journey  over  a  bad  road  through  the  jungle  on  elephants. 
The  first  elephant,  at  a  word  from  the  mahout,  knelt  for  his 
party  to  mount.  He  was  a  handsome  fellow,  covered  with 
scarlet  cloth,  and  carried  a  platform  that  accommodated  four. 
Upon  him  were  seated  General  Grant  and  Mrs.  Grant,  Mr. 
Borie,  and  Judge  Berry.  The  rest  of  the  party  mounted  the 
ladder  that  led  to  the  back  of  the  next. 

The  river  Neirhedda  came  into  sight — a  sacred  river  which 
washes  away  the  sins  of  the  Hindoo,  and  which  from  a  prophecy 
of  hundreds  of  years,  becomes  this  year  more  sacred  than  the 
Ganges.  Its  dark  green  water,  running  at  a  rapid  rate  over 
numerous  stony  beds,  then  in  narrow,  deep  channels  that  it  has 
cut  through  the  limestone  rock,  now  out  of  sight,  then  again  in 
view,  makes  a  very  pretty  picture  from  our  high  position  on  the 
elephant.  The  scenery  is  wild,  rocky  in  many  places  to  the 
water's  edge.     There  at  a  distance  is  a  large  Hindoo  temple,  and 


THE  SERVANT  QUESTION. 


627 


from  it  down  the  steep  bank  a  long  flight  of  steps.  Two  large 
orange  pennants  float  irom  long  poles  into  the  water's  edge, 
and  numerous  dark  figures  dot  the  shore  ;  they  are  pilgrims 
who  come  to  bathe  and  are  from  a  great  distance,  Hindoos  of 
all  kinds,  men,  women  and  children.  The  bungalow,  where  our 
lunch  awaits  us,  is  situated  on  a  high  rocky  point  overlooking 
the  river.  It  is  a  beautiful  day,  clear,  though  rather  warm,  but 
a  pith  helmet,  and  a  large  sunshade  affords  us  some  protection 
from  the  hot  sun's  rays. 

A  small  row-boat  takes  us  up  the  gorge  where  the  river  has 
cut  through  a  marble  hill.  The  steep  sides  of  pure  white  marble, 
some  sixty  feet  high,  at  times  with  almost  polished  surface,  then 
again  rugged  and  cracked,  with  enormous  crevasses,  the  home 
of  the  wild  pigeon,  makes  the  scene  a  grand  one.  But  its  chief 
beauty  is  upon  a  moonlight  night,  when  the  shining  marble  and 
the  tall,  dark  shadows  are  said  to  remind  one  of  hobgoblins  ami 
ghosts — particularly,  I  presume,  when  the  white  glistening  eyes 
and  teeth  of  the  native  bargemen  reflect  their  rays  of  moonlight 
also.  We  spent  an  interesting,  novel,  and  pleasing  day,  but  a 
thunder  shower  came  on  before  we  started  that  delayed  our  re- 
turn trip  ;  and  at  last,  when  once  more  upon  our  old  friends  the 
elephants,  we  returned  to  meet  the  carriages,  the  dust  of  five 
months  had  been  turned  into  a  superficial  breeze,  the  atmos- 
phere was  cool  and  pleasant,  and  we  found  the  return  trip  even 
pleasanter  than  the  one  before.  In  the  evening,  after  we 
reached  the  hotel,  we  all  put  on  winter  clothing.  Icbulpur  is 
a  clean  town,  and  at  the  same  time  not  without  picturesqueness 
and  beauty.  A  cactus  hedge  about  five  feet  high  surrounds 
most  of  the  bungalows,  and  a  wide-spreading  mango  tree  gives 
shade  during  the  heat  of  the  day.  In  the  workhouse  about 
three  hundred  Thugs,  with  their  families,  are  confined,  weav- 
ing carpets,  rugs,  etc.,  but  they  are  not  any  longer  dangerous  ; 
the  railroad  has  run  away  with  their  occupation,  and  they  now 
work  off  the  sins  of  their  ancestors. 

Before  leaving  Bombay  the  servant  question  gave  us  much 
concern,  and  when  presented  to  the  General,  did  not  meet  with 
enthusiasm.      But  there  was  a  burden  of  evidence  in  its  favor 


623 


RED   SEA   AND   INDIA. 


that  could  not  be  resisted,  and  when  it  was  suggested  that 
without  native  servants  we  might  find  ourselves  in  the  middle 
of  an  Indian  wilderness,  with  no  possible  means  of  advancing 
until  we  had  acquired  the  Hindostan  language,  there  was  no 
other  argument  required.  So  our  servants  were  hired.  The 
business  is  a  good  deal  like  buying  tickets  in  a  lottery.  The 
candidates  look  alike,  and  speak  the  same  pinched  and  barren 
English,  confined  to  the  few  phrases  necessary  to  personal  at- 
tendance.     There  are  varieties  of  labor  which   require  varieties 

of  servants. 


SOUTHERN    ASIA. 


Suchathing 
as  a  handy 
man  of  all 
work,  w  h  o 
can  go 
through  the 
whole  range 
of  p  r  o  fes- 
s  i  o  n  a  1  re- 
quirements, 
from  the 
boots  to  the 
beard,  is  not 
kno  w  n    in 

India.  The  Mussulman  will  wait  upon  you  at  table.  The 
Hindoo  would  regard  such  an  office  as  against  his  faith,  the 
food  you  touch  being  impure.  The  Hindoo's  main  office  is 
about  the  person.  I  suppose  if  we  had  encouraged  the  Indian 
idea  of  division  of  labor  we  should  have  had  a  dozen  servants 
for  each  of  the  party ;  but  the  General,  who  looked  with  alarm 
at  the  prospect  of  any  at  all,  suggested  four.  His  drawing  from 
the  lottery  was  a  cadaverous  brown  creature,  named  Chandy- 
Loll.  I  think  this  was  his  real  name.  Anyhow,  it  is  near 
enough  to  be  right,  for  we  were  always  forgetting  his  name 
and  calling  him  something  else. 

Chandy-Loll  was  engaged   upon  a  recommendation  signed 
by  Mr.  Cadwalader,  the  ex-Assistant  Secretary  of  State,  writ- 


THE  SERVANT  QUESTION.  Q2g 

ten  when  Mr.  Cadwalader  was  in  an  amiable  mood.  I  am 
sorry  to  say  that  Chandy-Loll  did  not  develop  all  of  the  virtues 
which  charmed  Mr.  Cadwalader.  Mr.  Borie  fell  into  the  hands 
of  an  imposing  person  named  Peter  Marian.  Peter  is  a  Chris- 
tian, descended  from  a  Portuguese  family,  and  looks  like  Gen- 
eral Burnside.  Peter  is  much  handsomer,  and  shows  more  in- 
tellect than  several  of  the  rajahs  we  have  met.  When  Mr. 
Borie  first  brought  him  into  our  society  we  thought  that  he  had 
found  a  native  prince,  and  was  about  to  open  a  new  avenue  of 
intercourse  with  the  native  nobility.  Colonel  Grant's  servant 
has  been  called  Genghis  Khan.  He  is  a  boy  with  all  the 
brightness  and  movement  of  youth,  but  without  much  sense. 
His  English  is  mainly  pantomime,  and  a  conversation  between 
the  Colonel  and  Genghis  looks  like  a  rehearsal  for  a  circus. 
Genghis  has  the  gaze  of  an  intelligent  poodle,  looking  this  way 
and  that  to  anticipate  his  master's  wishes,  ready  to  jump  the 
moment  he  knows  which  way  to  jump.  My  own  servant,  Kas- 
sim — we  call  him  Kassim,  because  although  not  being  his  name, 
it  is  the  nearest  thing  to  it — is  a  character.  Kassim  is  a  seri- 
ous, middle-aged  Hindoo,  who  speaks  English.  He  had  letters 
from  English  officers  with  whom  he  had  traveled,  and  so  I 
took  him.  My  experiences  with  a  Hindoo  servant  were  novel. 
As  soon  as  Kassim  was  engaged  he  took  possession  of  me.  I 
passed  into  obscurity.  I  had  no  care  about  myself.  Kassim 
floats  around,  always  talking  in  a  chattering,  heedless  fashion, 
and  is  a  nervous,  anxious  being  who  should  have  studied  astron- 
omy. There  is  nothing  vivid  in  Kassim's  conversational  pow- 
ers, but  after  patient  listening  you  sometimes  discern  an  idea. 
One  of  his  principal  themes  is  the  worthlessness  of  Hindoo  ser- 
vants in  general,  and  his  gratitude  that  he  is  an  exception  to 
the  rule.  He  would  always,  he  said,  see  that  his  master  had 
the  best  that  was  in  circulation  — the  best  tent,  the  best  orange 
in  the  basket,  the  best  seat  in  the  car.  All  this  was  kindly 
meant  in  Kassim,  but  he  lacked  enterprise,  and  suffered  from 
the  imperturbability  of  Peter  and  the  enterprise  of  Genghis 
Khan. 

We  pay  our  servants  a  rupee  a  day,  about  forty  cents  in 


630 


RED  SEA   AMD  INDIA. 


American  money.  We  allow  them  a  half  rupee  a  day  for  sub- 
sistence. They  travel  third  class.  You  have  no  trouble  about 
them  beyond  this.  The  few  things  they  can  do  they  do  well. 
They  are  attentive,  patient,  and,  I  hope,  honest.  They  have 
no  enterprise.  You  can  never  depend  upon  a  general  direc- 
tion. If  you  want  a  thing  done  every  day,  you  must  give  the 
order  every  day  for  a  month  at  least.  They  have  no  idea  of 
time  or  promptitude.      You   cannot   hurry  them.     Their   mind 


MY    HINDOO   SERVANT,    KAbSl.M. 


is  not  capable  of  taking  in  two  ideas  at  once.  They  do  a  great 
deal  of  unnecessary  work,  especially  if  it  is  work  at  which 
they  can  sit  down.  The  Hindoo's  idea  of  happiness  is  to  be 
able  to  sit  on  his  haunches,  his  legs  crossed  under  him,  and 
chatter  or  meditate.  Kassim's  favorite  occupation  is  the  pack- 
ing and  unpacking  of  my  portmanteau.  It  is  not  much  of  a 
portmanteau,  but  the  amount  of  packing  it  has  undergone  would 
try  the  patience  of  the  stoutest-hearted  trunk.  Whenever  I 
come  into  my  room  or  tent,  I  am  apt  to  find  Kassim  crouched 
over  the  portmanteau  packing.      He  has  an  aversion  to  papers 


all.ii/.u:ad.  5  m 

and  any  form  of  manuscript.  It  is  with  the  utmost  difficulty 
that  I  can  prevent  his  destroying  letters  and  manuscripts,  and  I 
am  sure  if  I  want  any  special  bit  of  writing  to  find  it  at  the  bot- 
tom of  his  canvas  bag,  among  the  shoebrushes  and  the  black- 
ing. Another  of  his  apprehensions  is,  that  we  shall  go  into  the 
iuii'de  and  shoot  tio-ers.  When  we  ensfaoed  Kassim,  he  vol- 
unteered  the  information  that  he  could  do  everything  in  the 
world  that  could  be  expected  from  a  Hindoo,  and  especially 
shoot  tigers.  But  when  he  heard  our  light  conversation  with 
Mr.  Bone  upon  his  resolution  to  kill  tigers,  Kassim  looked  at 
the  matter  from  a  grave  and  anxious  point  of  view,  and  warned 
me  in  private  of  the  perils  of  the  jungle,  and  especially  of  the 
peril  that  Mr.  Borie  would  be  sure  to  invite  if  he  persisted  in 
his  purpose. 

At  Allahabad,  the  Lieutenant  Governor,  Sir  George  Confer, 
met  the  General  at  the  railway  station,  as  did  also  his  secretary, 
our  friend  Colonel  Brownlow,  of  the  passengers  of  the  "  Venetia." 
We  were  the  Lieutenant  Governor's  guests  while  there,  and  it 
was  with  regret  that  we  left  the  pleasant  home  of  Sir  George 
and  Lady  Confer,  for  Agra,  where  we  were  to  remain  several 
days. 


END    OF    VOLUME    I. 


RARE  BOOK 
COLLECTION 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT 

CHAPEL  HILL 

Travel 
G440 
.G7 
Y7 
v.    1 


,*>- 


W£< 


■  m 


V 


■TO 


•»m^ 


